A Turkish court has ruled to continue the pretrial detention of Cihan Berk, a reporter for the Pir News Agency (PİRHA), who is on trial on charges of “membership in an organization.” Berk, who says his activities are solely journalistic, will remain in custody until the next hearing scheduled for June 3.
MLSA - The first hearing in the case was held on Wednesday at the Tunceli 1st High Criminal Court in eastern Turkey. The court panel decided to keep Berk in detention following the session.
Berk was detained on Dec. 19, 2025, on allegations of organizational membership and was later arrested and sent to Elazığ Prison. After the indictment against him was accepted, the court held its first hearing, which Berk attended via the Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS), a remote courtroom technology commonly used in Turkey. His lawyer, Kenan Çetin, was present in the courtroom.
In his defense statement, Berk said: “The only activity I have carried out is journalism. I have not engaged in any organizational activity. The news report I did and the slideshow presentation about Ebru Timtik are being presented as a crime. Who is Ebru Timtik? She is a lawyer registered with the Istanbul Bar Association. She was a lawyer who devoted her life to the struggle for rights and law. She was detained and put in prison. The news reports I did about her cannot be considered a crime. She always defended the rights of people who experienced victimization in Turkey. Reporting on Timtik’s advocacy cannot be a crime.”
Ebru Timtik, referenced in the case, was a lawyer who died in 2020 after a prolonged hunger strike while imprisoned, drawing international attention to concerns over fair trial rights in Turkey.
The court adjourned the trial until June 3 while ordering that Berk remain in custody.
