BirGün newspaper reporter Ismail Arı, who was detained yesterday in Tokat where he had gone for a family visit, was transferred to the Ankara Police Department.
Arı, who was taken into custody as part of an investigation conducted by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on charges of “publicly disseminating misleading information,” shared a message with the public through his lawyers.
In his message, Arı said: “I was detained because of a video from three months ago. I was taken in the evening during a holiday visit and brought to Ankara after travelling 450 kilometres. New tweets and my old videos continue to be added to my file. I believe the file is being inflated in order to have me arrested. They have already been looking for an excuse to arrest me for the past year. My only ‘crime’ is practising journalism in this country. Journalism is not a crime. Stand with journalists. Love…”
Request for arrest
Ismail Arı was referred to the Ankara Courthouse after completing his statement procedures at the police station. In his testimony, Arı, who was accused of “publicly disseminating misleading information” over a video published months ago, said he had used open sources in the report and noted that no investigation had even been launched into his previous reporting on foundations whose expenses were allegedly covered by municipalities governed by the Justice and Development Party (AKP).
The prosecutor referred Ismail Arı to the Criminal Judgeship of Peace with a request for his arrest without taking his statement. The court ruled in favor of Arı’s arrest. Meanwhile, reactions also followed Arı’s detention. Journalists organised protests in Ankara and Istanbul.
In Ankara, a statement was made in front of the Human Rights Monument on Yüksel Street. Speaking there, BirGün Editor-in-Chief Yaşar Aydın said: “This path we have entered is a point we cannot abandon. For our profession, for our country, for the freedom and equality of peoples, we cannot give up this path. If we journalists, those who strive to practise this profession with honour, fall silent, everything will fall silent.”
In Istanbul, journalists also gathered in Tünel. Political party representatives and citizens joined the protest organised by press organisations and journalists. Gathering behind a banner reading “BirGün,” journalists carried placards that read “Journalism is not a crime” and “BirGün will not be silenced,” chanting slogans such as “Ismail Arı is not alone,” “The free press cannot be silenced” and “Release Ismail Arı.”