A Turkish court has ruled to arrest Furkan Karabay, an editor for the Gerçek Gündem news website who was detained on Thursday for reporting on allegations of corruption implicating the judiciary.”
Karabay faces charges of “targeting officials fighting against terrorism” and “libel” over a news report based on the official minutes of a hearing.
In his questioning by the police, he was asked how he got ahold of the minutes and whether he was acting on someone’s instructions, the Artı Gerçek news website reported.
“As a journalist, I only act in the name of the public good,” Karabay said in response. “While I am not obligated to disclose my source, I would like to point out that the minutes are accessible by all.”
Erol Önderoğlu, the Turkey representative of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), said “Journalists’ duty is to inform the public. Karabay should be released so that this harassment does not go any further.”
The Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS) released a statement condemning what it called “the weaponization of anti-terror laws to intimidate journalists.”
Karabay was previously detained and released under judicial supervision for another report on judicial corruption allegations.
The news report that led to his previous detention concerned a letter sent by İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor İsmail Uçar, who exposed an alleged network of bribery within the judiciary.
Addressed to the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK), Uçar’s letter had detailed alleged bribery, nepotism and other irregularities in the system.
Karabay’s social media posts about the matter were censored by the authorities.
Turkey, which is known as one of the top jailers of journalists in the world, ranks 165th among 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 2023 World Press Freedom Index, which was announced in early May.
Turkey has seen an erosion in the rule of law, especially after a failed coup in July 2016, when more than 4,000 judges and prosecutors were removed under the pretext of an anti-coup fight.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is accused of replacing the purged judiciary members with young and inexperienced judges and prosecutors who have close links to the AKP.
In a development that confirmed the erosion of the Turkish judiciary, Turkey was ranked 117th among 142 countries in the rule of law index published by the World Justice Project (WJP) in late October, dropping one rank in comparison to last year.
