Journalist Merdan Yanardağ, who is being held in pretrial detention on a charge of “political espionage,” rejected a witness’s claim that he had given the witness money, calling the allegation “completely false.”
Yanardağ’s lawyers also objected to witnesses testifying via SEGBİS, Turkey’s judicial videoconferencing system, and requested his release pending trial. The court ruled that all defendants would remain in custody.
MLSA - The third hearing in the trial of jailed journalist Merdan Yanardağ, detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, İmamoğlu’s campaign director Necati Özkan and businessman Hüseyin Gün on charges of “political espionage” was held on Sept. 29 at Istanbul’s 25th High Criminal Court.
All detained defendants and their lawyers were present at the hearing, held at the Marmara Prison Complex on the outskirts of Istanbul.
İmamoğlu delivered the first defense statement of the day. He noted that the court had yet to receive a response to an earlier official request sent to Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization, or MİT, and addressed its director, İbrahim Kalın, asking, “Do you have any concrete evidence?”
“Why has an institution as powerful as MİT not told the truth for four months?” İmamoğlu said, also asking how much longer the defendants would be deprived of their liberty.
Three witnesses testify
After İmamoğlu’s defense statement, the court heard testimony from three witnesses. Ümit Deniz Alaçam, Seher Alaçam’s former driver Berkay Yağlıcı and her former personal assistant Zeynep Şen testified from the northwestern province of Kocaeli via SEGBİS, Turkey’s judicial videoconferencing system.
Şen alleged that Seher Alaçam and Hüseyin Gün had planned to transfer money in their bank accounts abroad and establish a company in the United States. It also emerged that Şen had worked for Ümit Deniz Alaçam, who had previously filed a tip-off against Gün.
Yağlıcı, meanwhile, claimed that he had taken money he received from Gün to Merdan Yanardağ. He said he withdrew between 5,000 and 10,000 euros from a bank on different days, that Gün placed the money in envelopes and that he handed it to Yanardağ at the turnstiles at the entrance to TELE1.
Yanardağ denied the allegation. His lawyer, Bilgütay Hakkı Durna, noted that Yağlıcı had previously said he made the withdrawals from the same branch of the same bank and asked why a 5,000-euro withdrawal did not appear in the bank records.
“I’m not a banker,” Yağlıcı replied.
Three witnesses testify
After İmamoğlu’s defense statement, the court heard testimony from three witnesses. Ümit Deniz Alaçam, Seher Alaçam’s former driver Berkay Yağlıcı and her former personal assistant Zeynep Şen testified from the northwestern province of Kocaeli via SEGBİS, Turkey’s judicial videoconferencing system.
Şen alleged that Seher Alaçam and Hüseyin Gün had planned to transfer money in their bank accounts abroad and establish a company in the United States. It also emerged that Şen had worked for Ümit Deniz Alaçam, who had previously filed a tip-off against Gün.
Yağlıcı, meanwhile, claimed that he had taken money he received from Gün to Merdan Yanardağ. He said he withdrew between 5,000 and 10,000 euros from a bank on different days, that Gün placed the money in envelopes and that he handed it to Yanardağ at the turnstiles at the entrance to TELE1.
Yanardağ denied the allegation. His lawyer, Bilgütay Hakkı Durna, noted that Yağlıcı had previously said he made the withdrawals from the same branch of the same bank and asked why a 5,000-euro withdrawal did not appear in the bank records.
“I’m not a banker,” Yağlıcı replied.
Prosecutor seeks continued detention
The prosecutor said he had no additional comments on the witness testimony and requested that each defendant remain in custody, citing “the nature and characteristics of the alleged offense, the state of the existing evidence and the insufficiency of judicial supervision measures at this stage.”
The defendants then delivered their defense statements in response to the prosecutor’s opinion.
Merdan Yanardağ rejected the allegation that money had been handed to him, calling it “completely false.” He said Seher Alaçam had taken part in TELE1’s sponsorship campaign and had occasionally supported the channel, but denied that the exchange of money described by the witness had ever taken place.
“For someone to come directly to me and hand me an envelope of money in front of the turnstiles would be contrary to the way our channel operates. It is not possible,” Yanardağ said.
He also criticized the witnesses’ testimony, saying, “They cannot come here because they are lying.”
Yanardağ further argued that neither a television channel nor the owner of a news agency could single-handedly secure an election victory for a political candidate.
“It is society that wins. Political parties and political struggles win,” he said.
Yanardağ also said he had filed a criminal complaint against the government-appointed trustee placed in charge of TELE1, accusing the trustee of interfering with the channel’s editorial line and shutting it down.
“What is a trustee’s duty? A trustee’s duty is to keep that institution operating. He failed to do that,” Yanardağ said.
Concluding his defense statement, Yanardağ said, “This case needs to be brought to an end as soon as possible,” and requested his release pending trial and acquittal.
Lawyers object to SEGBİS testimony
Yanardağ’s lawyer Selin Nakipoğlu criticized the decision to hear the witnesses via SEGBİS rather than having them appear in the courtroom. Nakipoğlu said the lawyers could not see the witnesses’ hands or reactions and that it was only later discovered that one witness had been reading their testimony from a sheet of paper.
Yanardağ’s other lawyer, Bilgütay Hakkı Durna, said that if the court decided to keep the defendants in custody, it should make a separate assessment for each defendant.
“We cannot understand from this indictment what our clients are being accused of,” Durna said.
After a break of about an hour, the court panel ruled that all defendants would remain in pretrial detention.
The next hearing is scheduled for Dec. 23, 2026, at 10 a.m.
Background
TELE1 Editor-in-Chief Merdan Yanardağ was detained on Oct. 24, 2025, as part of an investigation launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Prosecutors said Yanardağ had been detained on suspicion of “espionage” and that searches were carried out at his home, workplace and TELE1’s newsroom in Istanbul’s Seyrantepe district.
The same day, Turkey’s Savings Deposit Insurance Fund, or TMSF, was appointed as trustee to ABC Radio Television and Digital Broadcasting Inc., the company that owns TELE1.
Yanardağ was formally arrested and jailed on an “espionage” charge on Oct. 27, 2025.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office later prepared an indictment charging Yanardağ, jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, İmamoğlu’s adviser and campaign director Necati Özkan, and Hüseyin Gün with “political espionage.”
In the indictment, dated Feb. 4, 2026, prosecutors described İmamoğlu as the “leader of the organization” and included documents seized from Gün.
Prosecutors said the investigation began with a tip submitted to Turkey’s 112 Emergency Call Center. The person who made the report alleged that Gün had engaged in intelligence activities on behalf of Israel, Britain and the United States and had conducted his communications using encrypted phones.
The indictment also said an investigation into Seher Alaçam, whom Gün allegedly referred to as “mommy” and who was accused of giving money to Yanardağ, had been closed with a decision not to prosecute because Alaçam had died.
At the first hearing on May 11, 2026, the court sent an official request to Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization, or MİT, asking whether it had any reports or findings indicating that the defendants had engaged in “espionage activities.”
At the second hearing on July 6, 2026, the court said MİT’s response had not yet been received.
