Turkish prosecutors are seeking five years, four months in prison for jailed journalist İsmail Arı over social media posts about an investment fund investigation, the Cumhuriyet newspaper reported Friday.
The Ankara 32nd Criminal Court of First Instance accepted the indictment on charges of publicly disseminating misleading information and insult, ordered Arı to remain in pretrial detention and scheduled his first hearing for November 19.
Arı, a reporter for the BirGün daily, has been jailed since October 21 following a complaint by Ebubekir Şahin, former chairman of the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), Turkey’s broadcasting regulator.
The indictment cites Arı’s October 8 post sharing news about Osman Arıkan Nacar, whose name appeared in the fund investigation, and his quoting an earlier post by Şahin about Nacar. Prosecutors allege Arı used the posts to suggest Şahin was connected to the investigation.
Prosecutors declined to pursue a separate allegation of harassment included in Şahin’s complaint, according to Cumhuriyet.
Arı was detained after voluntarily going to Ankara police headquarters to give a statement. After being jailed, he said the judge had failed to hear him out and interrupted his lawyers.
The fund crisis erupted in September when some investment funds could not meet investors’ withdrawal requests amid investigations into suspected market manipulation. The Capital Markets Board (SPK), Turkey’s securities regulator, ordered the liquidation of 131 funds managed by seven companies, affecting about 456,000 individual investors.
Other journalists have also faced detention and questioning over reporting or commentary about alleged connections between government figures and the fund investigation. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a press freedom organization, has warned that repeated detentions and lengthy proceedings discourage reporting even when cases end without convictions.
Arı has been involved in separate legal proceedings following complaints by Şahin. One case concerned Arı’s attempts to contact Şahin for comment on alleged nepotism at RTÜK. Arı said prosecutors treated his calls and messages seeking comment as harassment.
The journalist also spent 75 days in jail earlier this year in a separate case involving allegations of disseminating misleading information and violating investigative confidentiality. He was released June 5, BirGün reported.
Turkey introduced the offense of publicly disseminating misleading information in October 2022. Human Rights Watch and the freedom of expression group ARTICLE 19 have criticized its broad wording, warning that it exposes journalists and government critics to arbitrary prosecution and encourages self-censorship.
