Trial Monitoring – Sept. 18, 2026

At hearings held in Istanbul this week, journalists Pınar Gayıp and Elif Bayburt, both held in pretrial detention for seven months, were released at the first hearings of their trials, while Nadiye Gürbüz remained in detention. During the same week, journalist Tuğba Tekerek, who was detained over a single news report on the LGBTI+ movement in Georgia, was arrested in Ankara. MLSA’s X account, @mlsaturkey, was blocked in Türkiye.

At the five hearings monitored by MLSA, nine journalists, one academic, one writer, one translator and one sociologist appeared in court on charges of “membership in an organization,” “aiding an organization” and “spreading organizational propaganda.” News content and reporting notes were cited as evidence in all of the monitored hearings, and statements by secret witnesses or cooperating witnesses were part of the case file in four of them. All of the hearings started late due to court workload. The trials of journalists Burcu Özkaya Günaydın, Gözde Şeker and İbrahim Kahveci and of former AKUT President Nasuh Mahruki were also heard this week.

Jailed journalists: Two releases, one continued detention

ETHA reporter Pınar Gayıp, who is represented by MLSA, was released after more than seven months in pretrial detention at the first hearing of her trial on a charge of “membership in an armed terrorist organization,” held on Sept. 14 at the Istanbul 23rd High Criminal Court. Mustafa Tezel, a witness whose statements were cited in the indictment, told the court that he had not made such a statement and did not know Gayıp; two other witnesses said they had seen Gayıp taking photographs but knew nothing else about her. The court imposed a travel ban on Gayıp and adjourned the trial until Dec. 7 at 10:15 a.m. Speaking upon her release from prison, Gayıp said: “I am one of the journalists who will continue to defend journalism and practice it, to defend the public’s right to information in this country and to report the truth. That is why they will not be able to silence the free press.”

ETHA reporter Elif Bayburt, also held in pretrial detention for seven months, was released at the first hearing of her trial on a charge of “membership in an organization,” held on Sept. 17 at the Istanbul 24th High Criminal Court. The witnesses named in the indictment, in which news content, secret witness statements, social media posts and a MASAK financial crimes report are cited as evidence, did not attend the hearing. The court imposed a travel ban on Bayburt and adjourned the trial until Dec. 10 at 10:35 a.m. MLSA’s observer noted that the judge addressed the defendant with the informal “sen.”

The first hearing in the trial of journalist Nadiye Gürbüz, held in pretrial detention for seven months on a charge of “membership in an organization,” was held on Sept. 15 at the Istanbul 25th High Criminal Court. A secret witness testified via the SEGBİS video-conferencing system. The court ruled to keep Gürbüz in detention on the grounds that not all nine cooperating witnesses named in the indictment had yet been heard, and adjourned the trial for approximately three months, until Dec. 8 at 11:20 a.m.

The same witness, Mustafa Tezel, is named in the indictments against Gayıp, Gürbüz and jailed lawyer Sezin Uçar, whose first hearing will be held on Sept. 24.

Trials of journalists

The 17th hearing in the trial of Prof. Dr. Şebnem Korur Fincancı, former chair of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), Erol Önderoğlu, former Türkiye representative of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and writer Ahmet Nesin, charged with “spreading organizational propaganda,” “publicly inciting to commit a crime” and “praising a crime and a criminal” over their support for the “Editor-in-Chief on Watch” solidarity campaign for the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem, was held on Sept. 15 at the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court. In the absence of the defendants, the court ruled to await the response to a judicial instruction issued for Nesin’s defense statement to be taken and adjourned the trial until Dec. 24 at 10:00 a.m.

The fourth hearing in the trial of journalists Erdoğan Alayumat, Tuğçe Yılmaz, Suzan Demir, Gülcan Dereli and Kemal Taylan Abatan, translator Serap Güneş and sociologist Berfin Atlı, charged with “aiding an organization” over paid freelance work for the Germany-based newspaper Yeni Özgür Politika and its arts and culture supplement PolitikArt, was held on Sept. 17 at the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court. The defendants gave their statements in the case, in which news content, secret witness statements, a MASAK report and financial transactions are cited as evidence. The court ruled that the travel bans on the defendants remain in place and adjourned the trial until Dec. 8 at 10:20 a.m.

Journalist Gözde Şeker gave her first defense statement on Sept. 16 in the trial in which she and journalist İbrahim Kahveci are charged with “slander” and “insult” following a complaint by Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli. The indictment prepared after Bahçeli’s complaint had been returned four times by three separate courts on different grounds.

Journalist Burcu Özkaya Günaydın was not acquitted despite a European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruling finding a violation in her case. On Sept. 15, the Hatay 2nd High Criminal Court dismissed the case on the grounds that the five-year supervision period under a suspended verdict had expired.

Former AKUT President Nasuh Mahruki, held in pretrial detention since July 17, was sentenced on Sept. 16 to one year in prison on a charge of “inciting the public to hatred and enmity.” The court ordered his release following the sentencing.

“My Family Is Safe” operations: Journalist Tuğba Tekerek arrested

Journalist Tuğba Tekerek, who was detained overnight from Sept. 13 to 14 and taken to Ankara over a report she had prepared for Kaos GL on the situation of LGBTI+ people ahead of the elections in Georgia, was arrested on Sept. 15 as part of the “Ailem Güvende” (“My Family Is Safe”) investigation. The prosecutor’s office had requested the arrest of all 20 people referred to court, including members of Kaos GL’s executive and supervisory boards; a total of 13 people were arrested, including Tekerek, seven members of Kaos GL’s executive and supervisory boards and five trans women. MLSA is representing Tekerek.

Tekerek, who was identified in the police report as “the person in charge of Kaos GL’s Instagram account,” is being held in a judicial ward at Sincan Prison. In a letter sent from prison, she said: “Because some do not see me as an ‘acceptable journalist,’ I was swept up in the operation, arrested on an accusation that has nothing whatsoever to do with reality.” She added: “It is clear that these arrests are intended to intimidate journalists and punish journalism. But there will always be journalists who pursue the truth.”

As part of the operations, 16 of the 18 people detained in İzmir were arrested on Sept. 14. On Sept. 15, police intervened in a press statement held outside the Istanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan in protest at the operations, detaining 106 people, including BirGün reporter Sarya Toprak and ARD German TV reporter Şener Azak, who were covering the protest. Azak, represented by MLSA’s Legal Unit, was released the same evening, and Toprak was released on Sept. 16. During her questioning, Toprak was asked not only about the protest but also about her social media posts on the “My Family Is Safe” operations.

Access bans: MLSA’s X account blocked in Türkiye

MLSA’s X account, @mlsaturkey, was blocked in Türkiye over a news story shared about the operation targeting LGBTI+ organizations. MLSA’s lawyers have challenged the decision, and the association is continuing to post from @mlsaturkiye.

The bar associations of Adıyaman, Ağrı, Batman, Bingöl, Dersim, Diyarbakır, Hakkari, Iğdır, Mardin, Muş, Siirt, Şanlıurfa, Şırnak and Van issued a joint written statement against the access bans imposed on MLSA, the newspaper Evrensel, Amnesty International Türkiye, the Academics for Peace and numerous journalists, human rights defenders, civil society organizations and social media accounts. The 14 bar associations said the access ban decision had been met with concern.

New cases and other developments

A case has been filed against journalist Canan Coşkun and documentary filmmaker Kazım Kızıl, who investigated the death of 11-year-old Rabia Naz Vatan, who died under suspicious circumstances in 2018 in Eynesil, a district of Giresun province, and against Rabia Naz’s father, Şaban Vatan, over an interview they conducted with a witness at the scene. The first hearing will be held on Oct. 22.

Journalist Selahattin Günday was arrested for a second time on a charge of “establishing a criminal organization,” following an objection to his arrest as part of the investigation into the death of Kaşif Kozinoğlu.

It emerged that the three-page indictment against lawyer Sezin Uçar, who has been held in pretrial detention for five months and is charged with “membership in the MLKP,” is based on the statements of 13 people who benefited from “effective remorse” provisions. The first hearing in the case will be held on Sept. 24 at 2:00 p.m. at the Istanbul 26th High Criminal Court.