Oya Lale Özan Arslan, a Turkish freelance journalist with over 118,000 followers on X and 151,000 on YouTube where she posts as Lale Özan Arslan, is on release pending trial after spending around 40 days in prison after her arrest on September 4, 2026.
She was released pending trial by a court on October 14, 2026.
Arslan was detained on September 4, 2026, after police in Ankara searched her home and confiscated her digital devices.
She was questioned about her work by Ankara’s Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office before being arrested later that same day by a court pending trial on suspicion of “publicly spreading disinformation” and making propaganda for a terrorist organization.
CPJ inspected the documents regarding Arslan’s testimony during her interrogation.
The journalist was questioned about her past YouTube broadcasts concerning the so-called FETÖ organization, a group linked to deceased Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen and which the Turkish government blames for a coup attempt in 2016.
Arslan told interrogators she considers the said group to be a terrorist organization and would not make propaganda for them, according to the documents.
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office released a statement on September 4, 2026 confirming the arrest and the allegations, which may become charges if the case goes to a trial.
No trial date had been set as of October 15, 2026.