June 5, 2026
İsmail Arı, a reporter for the newspaper BirGün, was released at the first hearing of his trial on a charge of “publicly spreading misleading information” brought over his journalism. The court ordered the release of Arı, who had spent 75 days in pretrial detention, on the grounds that there was no risk he would tamper with evidence.
Büşra Genel
İsmail Arı, a reporter for the opposition daily BirGün, was released at the first hearing of a trial in which his news reports were cited as the basis for a charge of “publicly spreading misleading information.” The case stems from an investigation conducted by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Arı was detained on Sunday, March 22, in Turhal, a district of the north-central province of Tokat, where he was staying for a religious holiday visit, and was subsequently jailed. He came before a judge for the first time on June 5, 2026, after 75 days behind bars. The hearing had been scheduled at the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance, but after the defense objected that the courtroom was too small, it was moved — following roughly an hour’s wait — to the chamber of the 15th High Criminal Court.
Numerous lawyers, members of parliament, journalists and Arı’s supporters watched the hearing. Arı was brought into the courtroom to applause.
Before beginning his defense statement, Arı asked the court to activate SEGBİS — Turkey’s Audio and Visual Information System, used to make official audiovisual recordings of court proceedings — so that his words would not be taken out of context. After the court initially rejected the request, the recording was switched on following objections, and Arı began his defense statement.
In his defense statement, Arı said: “I stand before the court as an imprisoned journalist. I have come here not only to defend myself but to defend all journalists. I hold a press card issued by the Presidency. For 75 days I have been in prison over an accusation that does not even carry a custodial sentence. I am in prison over nothing more than a 58-line indictment. For 75 days I have been sleeping on the floor of a ward holding far more people than its capacity.”
Describing what he said he experienced during and after his detention, Arı said police officers seized his phone without a court order. He alleged that he was strip-searched after being taken to the Ankara Provincial Police Department, and said he had filed a complaint against the officers who carried it out.
Arı said the video at the center of the investigation file had been turned into grounds for prosecution 65 days after it was published. “I was detained on the second day of the holiday in Turhal, where I was visiting,” he said. “Why were the security forces looking for me at my wife’s family’s home? I believe my phone’s cell-tower signals were checked unlawfully. I ask your court to file a criminal complaint about this. The gendarmerie and police raided the home of my wife’s relatives as if mounting an operation against the leader of a criminal organization.”
Saying the assessments in the indictment had been written while he was still in custody, Arı said: “President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his family were not disturbed by the video in question; it was the prosecution that was disturbed. The indictment uses words like ‘probable.’ This is why I have been in prison for 75 days.”
Noting that he was on trial over award-winning reports he had produced on corruption allegations at the Yunus Emre Foundation — a state-funded institution that promotes Turkish language and culture abroad, comparable to the British Council or Germany’s Goethe-Institut — Arı closed his defense statement with these words:
“I’ll tell you something that will surprise you. You yourself presided over the Yunus Emre Foundation case, Your Honor. I am on trial today because of a case I followed and reported on. I received three separate awards for my reporting on the Yunus Emre Foundation. I am exercising my right to practice journalism in this country. I did journalism for the public. I was threatened many times, but I kept doing journalism. When I was arrested, I saw that people were aware of it. Various actions were taken to protest my detention. I did journalism, and that is why I was punished. Everyone heard what was done to me — except the judicial authorities. Journalism is not a crime. I demand my immediate acquittal.”
Taking the floor after Arı, his lawyer Kerem Altıparmak argued that Article 217/A of the Turkish Penal Code had been turned into a provision used to target journalists. The article, a “disinformation” measure added to the penal code in 2022, criminalizes the public dissemination of misleading information and has drawn sustained criticism from press-freedom groups, which say it is used to silence journalists and government critics.
Altıparmak, who said there was no complaint or concrete document in the file, said: “When he was detained, we could not even see the prosecutor. We did not see the footage that was made the subject of the investigation. Article 217/A is cited, but where are the facts? They are nowhere to be found. It is claimed that something untrue was said, but what that is, is not explained. If the footage were watched, it would become clear how far the indictment is from reality.”
In his opinion on the merits of the case, the prosecutor said the evidence had not yet been fully collected and that strong suspicion of a crime remained, and asked for Arı’s detention to continue.
Announcing its interim decision, the court ruled to release Arı, finding no suspicion that he would tamper with evidence.
