A Turkish court jailed journalist Ali Tarakcı pending trial Saturday over an X post predicting a cabinet minister’s resignation. Police had detained him earlier in the day, and his account was blocked for users in Turkey, the DHA news agency reported.
Ankara’s 8th Criminal Court of Peace ordered Tarakcı jailed on suspicion of publicly spreading misleading information under Article 217/A of the Turkish Penal Code.
On September 23, Tarakcı wrote on X that “a very important minister will resign on Friday.” He did not name the minister. Friday, September 25, passed without the resignation he predicted.
His post circulated amid speculation that Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek might resign as Turkey grappled with an investment fund crisis. Şimşek rejected rumors about his own resignation on Thursday, calling them “baseless.” Tarakcı later told prosecutors that he had not meant any particular minister.
The crisis began when some investment funds holding shares that were difficult to sell could not meet requests from investors seeking their money back. Turkey’s Capital Markets Board ordered the liquidation of 131 funds run by seven asset managers. The funds had about $18 billion in reported assets and 455,758 individual investors.
The press crimes unit of the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation into Tarakcı’s post. Prosecutors ordered him detained and instructed police to search his home and seize digital devices for examination, according to the DHA.
Tarakcı posted shortly after midnight Saturday that he was being detained. Prosecutors cited Article 217/A in the order sent to police in İstanbul, where he was taken into custody.
At prosecutors’ request, Ankara’s 7th Criminal Court of Peace also ordered access to Tarakcı’s entire X account blocked. X made the account unavailable in Turkey.
Article 217/A, enacted in 2022 and often called Turkey’s disinformation law, carries a prison sentence of one to three years upon conviction. It covers false information spread with the aim of causing public fear, panic or concern. The Committee to Protect Journalists has criticized its use against reporters.
The account block comes amid a wider series of restrictions on X in Turkey. On Thursday the account of digital rights advocate Yaman Akdeniz was withheld from users in the country. The Freedom of Expression Association, a Turkish group that tracks online censorship, has recorded restrictions on the accounts of journalists, academics and economists.
This article is republished from Turkish Minute.
