Journalist Gökhan Özbek was briefly detained in Ankara on Thursday due to a prison sentence he was handed down for criticizing an indictment against jailed businessman Osman Kavala, Turkish Minute reported, citing his post on X.
Özbek, also the owner of a news platform on X who is known for his critical views of the Turkish government, was detained following a home raid on Thursday morning. He was released from detention in the afternoon.
Özbek said on X that the cause of his detention was a prison sentence he received in 2022 for criticizing in a tweet the “unlawfulness” in the indictment against Kavala, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2022 over a wave of 2013 anti-government protests in what many call a politically motivated trial.
Özbek said his prison sentence of around four months was converted into a fine, making his release from police custody possible after paying it.
“Even if my comments and analyses are constantly the subject of an investigation or a [criminal] case, I will continue to do my job,” said Özbek, adding that he will fight against the injustices in the country by engaging in independent journalism.
Meanwhile, Özbek’s lawyer, Gizay Dulkadir, who announced on X the detention of her client, lamented the fact that although the authorities know Özbek poses no flight risk, since he was detained and released before, he was not summoned to a police station but rather was detained at his home after a police raid.
Özbek is the owner of the popular 23 Derece, which has around 700,000 followers on X. The platform and its critical coverage of events and government policies in Turkey makes it a frequent target among pro-government circles.
The journalist is known for his outspoken criticism of rights violations in the aftermath of a coup attempt in 2016 and his support for the victims of such violations.
Rights groups routinely accuse the Turkish government of trying to keep the press under control by imprisoning journalists, eliminating media outlets, overseeing the purchase of media brands by pro-government conglomerates and using regulatory authorities to exert financial pressure, especially since President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan survived the failed coup in 2016.
Since the abortive putsch, when journalists were subjected to mass arrest on bogus coup or terrorism charges, local and international press organizations have released varying figures for the number of journalists jailed in the country.
Some journalists who were arrested in the aftermath of the coup attempt and convicted of terrorism-related charges have been released from prison after serving their sentences.
Turkey, which has been suffering from a poor record of freedom of the press for years, ranks 158th among 180 countries in RSF’s World Press Freedom Index published on May 3 on the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day.
