Murat Kocabaş, a freelance photojournalist, was among the many field reporters and photojournalists who were taken into custody after protests erupted over the imprisonment of Istanbul’s opposition Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in late March 2025. Kocabaş was detained while covering the protests in the western city of Izmir.
Izmir police took Kocabaş into custody on March 24 while reporting in the field, and he was released on March 27 by a court pending investigation.
Kocabaş said he was documenting police brutality during the protests in Izmir.
CPJ’s email requesting comment from the chief prosecutor’s office in Izmir did not receive a reply.