Büşra Genel
Journalist Alican Uludağ was released at the first hearing of a case in which he was tried in pretrial detention over social media posts in which he publicized his news reports. Uludağ and his lawyers said the 90-day detention and the failure to allow physical attendance at the hearing violated the right to a fair trial. At the hearing held at the Ankara 26th Criminal Court of First Instance, the prosecutor requested that detention continue. The court ruled to release Uludağ, who joined from Silivri Prison.
Journalist Alican Uludağ was released at the first hearing of a case in which he was tried in pretrial detention on charges of "insulting the president," "publicly spreading misleading information" and "publicly denigrating the judicial bodies" over social media posts in which he publicized his news reports.
The hearing at the Ankara 26th Criminal Court of First Instance was expected to begin at 10 a.m. However, because the presiding judge was on excused absence and a duty judge was assigned in his place, the hearing began at 2:35 p.m.
Uludağ, who was on the 90th day of his detention, was not brought to Ankara. The court ruled that he would attend the hearing from Marmara Prison in Silivri via the Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS). Silivri, on Istanbul's western outskirts, is home to Turkey's largest prison complex, which holds many journalists and political prisoners.
Many journalists, lawyers and family members watched the hearing. Despite a request for a larger room, the hearing was held in a small courtroom. Ankara Bar Association President Mustafa Köroğlu also requested to join the case as defense counsel.
Stating that during the SEGBİS connection he could see only the panel of judges, Uludağ said he wanted to see the entire courtroom. Greeting his relatives and colleagues, Uludağ said during the identity check, "I am a judicial-affairs reporter."
Beginning his defense statement by commemorating imprisoned journalists, Uludağ said:
"I send greetings to Merdan Yanardağ, İsmail Arı, Pınar Gayıp, the most recently arrested journalist Yelis Ayaz, and all imprisoned journalists.
For 90 days I have been at Silivri Prison, far from my family. Even though I voiced my objection to joining via SEGBİS, I am attending the hearing from here. A trial conducted from prison cannot be sound.
I learned judicial-affairs reporting under difficult conditions during the era of the Fethullahists. Then, as now, I did not practice journalism in the shadow of any interest group. I was on the right side of history then, and I am on the right side now.
I have never done journalism that I would regret. I did journalism for the public good. This case is nothing but the obstruction of the press and freedom of expression guaranteed in the Constitution. This is the obstruction of the public's right to receive news."
"What does a terror prosecutor have to do with a journalist?"
Reacting also to the prosecutor who prepared the indictment, Uludağ said, "Who is this prosecutor? A press prosecutor? No, a terror prosecutor. What does a terror prosecutor have to do with a journalist? Is a journalist a terrorist?"
Criticizing the prosecution's approach, Uludağ said, "When the prosecutor should have gone from the evidence to the suspect, he went from the suspect to the evidence."
Uludağ said most of the posts that were made the subject of the accusation dated from before October 2025. Giving examples from his posts, Uludağ said: "The prosecutor underlined it. I have been thinking about it for 90 days. I wrote, 'It is trying to take back through the judiciary what it lost at the ballot box.' I was referring to the operations against CHP-run municipalities. Where is the insult here?"
Stating that, as a judicial-affairs reporter, he had criticized operations within the judiciary, Uludağ cited the example of Gezi trial convict Tayfun Kahraman. The Gezi trial stems from the 2013 anti-government protests, in which several civil-society figures received heavy sentences.
"He remains in prison even though there are two Constitutional Court rulings in his favor. When I entered prison, I saw Tayfun Kahraman. In his eyes I saw the feeling that injustice brings. As a judicial-affairs reporter, am I not to write this?"
Saying the indictment did not specify with which post he had denigrated the government or the judiciary, Uludağ stated that his posts were made against the politicization of the judiciary and to defend judicial independence.
"They want no one to speak their mind"
Stating that the prosecution had made not only news and information but also thoughts and commentary the subject of accusations, Uludağ said, "In addition to calling information 'a lie,' the prosecutor wanted to criminalize an opinion and a thought. In other words, they want no one to speak their mind."
Recalling his post about the arrest of journalist Furkan Karabay, Uludağ said, "I had said that arresting journalists has become a hobby for prosecutors. Now I am the one under arrest."
Saying he was now being tried as a defendant because he had reported on unlawful practices and controversial appointments within the judiciary, Uludağ said, "Turkey has seen the judges who released drug baron Zindaşti. With these examples in plain sight, where is the insult in my social media posts?"
Stating that his post criticizing the transfer of one of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's executives from Afyon to Silivri in handcuffs had also been added to the file, Uludağ said, "I criticized this treatment. When I first entered prison, I too slept on the floor. I am someone who has personally experienced the practices I criticized. Where is the crime in this?" Afyon is a province in western Turkey.
Uludağ argued that the phrase "black propaganda mechanism between the judiciary and the palace" that he used in his post dated Sept. 23, 2025, was based on information. "The palace" refers to the presidential complex in Ankara.
"I wrote that information about CHP-run municipalities was being leaked to journalists close to the government. Your Honor, this is, if anything, an understatement. The Center for Combating Disinformation did not deny this information-based post of mine. But a year later the prosecutor comes out and says it is disinformation and a lie."
"I did not commit a crime, I did journalism"
Emphasizing that he is a judicial-affairs reporter, Uludağ said, "The main purpose of my social media posts is to inform. Apart from my social media posts, there is no other allegation for which I am accused."
Stating that journalism has a public-oversight function, Uludağ said, "A journalist's duty is to scrutinize, on behalf of the public, those who govern the state. The main purpose of these posts is to inform and warn the public. I did not commit a crime, I did journalism."
Demanding his acquittal at the end of his defense statement, Uludağ also reacted to the "risk of flight" cited as a ground for his arrest:
"Why would I flee when my children, aged 5 and 10, are waiting for me? The place they will find me is the press room."
Uludağ said: "We are living through a period in which there is little difference left between being inside and being outside. The democratic order is under great threat. Turkey is at a major crossroads. If journalists fall silent today, society will fall silent too."
"He was placed in a cell about 20 hours after being taken from his home"
Uludağ's lawyer, Abbas Yalçın, drew attention to violations of the right to a fair trial. Stating that the president was not included in the file as a complainant, Yalçın criticized the fact that the investigation was being conducted by the terrorism prosecutor's office in Istanbul.
Yalçın recounted that his client had been taken to Istanbul shortly after being detained and was placed in a cell about 20 hours later:
"Throughout the journey, the Istanbul police called repeatedly, asking, 'Where are you, come on.' Alican was placed in a cell about 20 hours after being taken from his home."
Arguing that Uludağ's right to defend himself in person had been obstructed, Yalçın said, "He wanted to come to the hearing, paying out of his own pocket, and defend himself in person. He was taken to Istanbul and arrested within 20 hours, but he could not be brought here for the hearing. This is grave unlawfulness and mistreatment."
Ankara Bar Association President Mustafa Köroğlu, for his part, said the case could not be assessed merely as a journalist's criminal file.
Köroğlu said, "A journalist's statements on a matter of public concern may be disturbing. But in a democratic society where freedom of expression exists, this should be regarded as natural."
Arguing that the "disinformation" regulation was being used to make it harder for journalists to do their jobs, Köroğlu stated that political authorities must show greater tolerance of criticism.
The prosecutor requested continued detention
The prosecutor requested that Uludağ's detention continue, citing "the existence of concrete evidence" and "the nature of the acts."
Taking the floor again, Uludağ said, "The prosecutor speaks of an element of crime but does not explain it in concrete terms. If this decision is being made about a journalist who has been in detention for 90 days, I am at a loss for words."
At the end of the hearing, the court ruled to release Alican Uludağ.
