A Turkish court on Tuesday jailed local journalist Hasan Güraksu under Turkey’s disinformation law over a report alleging that expired meat was being used in meals at a public hospital in the southwestern province of Burdur, Turkish media reported.
Güraksu, owner of the local Gür Haber news website, was detained Monday evening following an investigation into an October 3 report about food served at Burdur State Hospital. He was questioned and later jailed pending trial.
The report cited hospital employees and other sources as alleging that meat and other food products past their expiration dates were being kept in the hospital kitchen and that some may have been used in meals.
Gür Haber said it had photographs and videos showing barcodes and expiration dates on the products but had not published all the material. The outlet said it was prepared to provide the material to authorities if an investigation was launched.
The latest allegations followed a series of reports by Gür Haber about Burdur State Hospital since 2025, including claims about the quality of meals, hygiene problems involving rodents and insects and other alleged irregularities.
The October 3 report also cited allegations that employees had been instructed to prepare expired meat with sauces for use in meals and called on the Burdur Governor’s Office to order an unannounced inspection of the hospital kitchen and storage areas.
It also said some hospital employees, patients and patients’ relatives had experienced abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea after eating at the hospital, while noting that no link to the food had been established.
The Burdur Provincial Health Directorate denied the allegations, saying food delivered to the hospital was regularly inspected and that no food-related health problems had been detected.
Introduced in 2022, Article 217/A of the Turkish Penal Code, commonly known as the disinformation law, requires prison sentences of one to three years for those found guilty of publicly spreading false information in a way that causes concern, fear or panic among the public.
The law has prompted widespread criticism from press freedom and rights groups, which say its vague wording gives authorities broad powers to investigate and prosecute journalists and social media users over reporting and online commentary.
According to Expression Interrupted, a press freedom monitoring group, 25 journalists are currently behind bars in Turkey. The country’s deteriorating media landscape was further pointed out in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), where it was ranked 163rd out of 180 nations.
