- Journalist Sedef Kabaş has been released under judicial control within the scope of the investigation launched against her on the charges of “insulting the president” and “inciting to commit a crime.”
- Kabaş will sign at the nearest police station two days a week for four months and will not be able to leave the country.
MLSA – Journalist Sedef Kabaş, who was taken into custody from her home on the evening of January 26 within the scope of the investigation launched against her, was referred to the Istanbul Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office today (January 27, 2026) following her interrogation at the Police Department. In her statement to the prosecutor’s office, Kabaş stated that she was being accused because of certain posts she made on the social media platform X, and said that the statements in question should be evaluated within the scope of freedom of expression.
The prosecutor’s office requested that Kabaş be released under judicial control and sent the case file to the Istanbul Anatolian On-Duty Criminal Judgeship of Peace. The court ruled that the journalist must sign at the police station closest to her residence on Mondays and Fridays for a period of four months and imposed a travel ban.
“To seek crime in a statement related to the use of a constitutional right is in fact a crime”
In her statement, Kabaş argued that her posts such as “Is there still anyone who thinks only soldiers carry out coups?” and “They made a plane without an engine… They graduated with fake diplomas, they are running the country without legitimacy” do not contain any criminal elements. Saying that she did not target any specific individual with these posts, Kabaş stated that her aim was to draw attention to allegations of fake diplomas in public institutions.
Kabaş also gave a statement about her post saying “From now on, elections will be held as a formality, there will be ballot boxes but no democracy, from now on the only solution is civil disobedience.” In this statement, she said “Civil disobedience is a constitutional right,” and emphasized that statements related to constitutional rights should not be considered crimes.
The journalist, rejecting the accusations, stated that all her posts should be evaluated within the scope of freedom of expression.
Sedef Kabaş was previously arrested on January 21, 2022 on charges of “insulting the president” due to a statement she made on the TELE1 channel, and remained in prison for about two months. At the hearing held on March 11, 2022, she was sentenced to 2 years and 4 months in prison and was released.
In 2015, Kabaş had also been tried for her social media posts related to the December 17–25 corruption investigations, but had been acquitted.
