Furkan Karabay, an Istanbul-based freelance court reporter, was arrested by a court 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.
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 with similar accusations. On November 9, 2024, an Istanbul court arrested Karabay, pending trial, on a 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 and is awaiting 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 January 2024 and acquitted from both charges in October 2024.
CPJ’s email requesting comment from the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office did not receive a reply.