The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office is seeking six to 15 years in prison for journalist Furkan Karabay on charges of “insulting the president,” “repeatedly targeting public officials involved in counterterrorism efforts” and “insulting a public official,” the Cumhuriyet daily reported.
Karabay was detained on May 15 over his reports and social media posts concerning investigations into opposition mayors and has been in pretrial detention for 114 days.
The indictment also includes a charge of “insulting a public official” based on his statements to a judge during the investigation. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek, Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor Can Tuncay, prosecutor Ahmet Şahin and Judge Hatice Kozan were listed as complainants.
Karabay is known for his critical coverage of investigations targeting municipalities run by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), including a case against İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was arrested in March in what critics say was a politically motivated move to prevent him from running in the next presidential election.
Karabay was handed down a two-year suspended sentence in April over comments in a YouTube interview about claims of offshore accounts allegedly owned by Erdoğan’s family, allegations first raised by then-opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in 2017.
In Turkey insulting the president is a criminal offense under Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code. The law has been widely criticized by press freedom advocates because it is often used to prosecute journalists, politicians and even ordinary citizens for expressing views that might be critical or satirical of the president, even indirectly.
Karabay had also been arrested in November 9, 2024, for reporting on the detention of Esenyurt Mayor Özer and the appointment of a trustee to the municipality. He was released 10 days later pending trial.
Turkey, one of the world’s leading jailers of journalists, was ranked 159th out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
The authorities frequently use broad counterterrorism laws and insult charges to prosecute members of the press.
