Furkan Karabay, an Istanbul-based freelance court reporter, was arrested on May 15, 2025, on suspicion of “making targets of those who were tasked to combat terrorism” and insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He was indicted in early September and released on December 2, pending appeal, after being found guilty. The court sentenced the journalist to four years and three months in prison.
Karabay was arrested in connection with now-deleted X posts in April about the prosecution of Ekrem İmamoğlu, the arrested opposition mayor of Istanbul. Karabay refused to defend himself in front of the arresting court: “This is the third time I’ve been here. I have left under arrest after the first two [and] I will be arrested again. I don’t care,” he said.
Karabay was arrested twice before in the past three years on similar accusations. On November 9, 2024, an Istanbul court arrested Karabay, pending trial, on suspicion of “making targets of those who were tasked to combat terrorism,” “insulting a public servant,” and “knowingly distributing misleading information to the public,” following his reporting on the arrest of an opposition mayor. He was released the next day pending his trial.
On December 28, 2023, another Istanbul court arrested Karabay on suspicion of “making targets of those who were tasked to combat terrorism,” as well as defamation, due to his reporting on allegations of corruption in the judiciary. He was released pending trial in January 2024 and acquitted of both charges in October 2024.
CPJ’s email requesting comment from the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office did not receive a reply.