A Turkish court on Monday ordered the rearrest of local journalist Mehmet Yetim in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa a day after his release from pretrial detention, the Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) reported.
Yetim was freed on Sunday after one month in pretrial detention. Following a prosecutor’s appeal, the Siverek Criminal Magistrate of Peace ordered his rearrest.
Yetim was arrested on April 18 on charges of publicly disseminating misleading information in a social media post about a knife attack at a school Şanlıurfa. He initially reported that a parent had attacked a teacher with a knife and that a vice principal had been injured. He then deleted the post and shared a correction.
The arrest prompted criticism from opposition politicians and journalist associations, which also criticized the authorities’ use of the disinformation law to target journalists.
Introduced in 2022, Article 217/A of the Turkish Penal Code, known as the disinformation law, requires prison sentences of one to three years for those found guilty of publicly spreading false information in a way that causes concern, fear or panic among the public.
According to Expression Interrupted, a press freedom monitoring group, 27 journalists are currently behind bars in Turkey. The country’s deteriorating media landscape was further pointed out in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), where it was ranked 163rd out of 180 nations.
