News Centre
The detained BirGün reporter İsmail Arı will stand before a judge for the first time today at the Ankara 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance. Calls continue to pour in for the first hearing of the trial in which Arı, who was arrested on allegations of "publicly disseminating misleading information" and "violation of confidentiality", is being prosecuted.
Press professional organisations, including the Basın Konseyi (Press Council), Disk Basın-İş (Press Labour Union of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey), Çağdaş Gazeteciler Derneği (ÇGD - Contemporary Journalists Association), Türkiye Gazeteciler Cemiyeti (TGC - Journalists Association of Turkey), Kesk Haber-Sen (Union of Press, Publication, Postal and Telecommunication Workers), and the Türkiye Gazeteciler Sendikası (TGS - Journalists' Union of Turkey), made a call to gather outside the courtroom.
In the call issued, it was conveyed that a press statement will be held by gathering in front of the Ankara Courthouse at 13:00, after which the trial will be monitored. The following words, which İsmail Arı uttered from Sincan Prison, were also recalled: "I have been preparing for my hearing on 5 June and my defence for a while now. I am faced with a tremendous unlawfulness and persecution. Do not leave me alone on 5 June to protect your right to information, journalism, and democracy. I will not merely defend myself; I will defend journalism at the same time."
In the call issued by SOL Party, it was stated: "Journalism is not a crime. We will be at the Ankara Courthouse for journalist İsmail Arı, who has been detained for 73 days for telling the truth to the public."
MY NEWS STORIES CAUSED DISCOMFORT
Ahead of the hearing, the TGC Executive Board visited its member, journalist İsmail Arı, who is currently detained in Ankara's Sincan Prison. Zeynel Lüle attended the closed visit on behalf of the TGC Executive Board. Stating during the visit that the public's right to information is being targeted through the arrest of journalists, İsmail Arı, who was arrested on the allegations of "publicly disseminating misleading information" and "violation of confidentiality", spoke as follows: "I believe that the charges directed at me and the social media posts presented as grounds are a mere pretext. Am I here because the news stories I reported caused discomfort to someone? For years, I have only practiced journalism. I have tried to make the voices of those seeking justice heard and to expose the truths that the public needs to know. This is the reason why I am here today."
In his statement from prison, Arı said: "There may be those who want to silence me, but I will not give up on journalism. I have continued, and am continuing, to write and report news in prison as well. The arrest of journalists is a target aimed not only at journalists but also at the public's right to receive information. Therefore, my request to citizens is that they stand up for journalists and the freedom of information. Because journalism is not a crime, and in the end, it is the truths that will win. Today, I will base my defence on the veracity of my news stories, which are the grounds for my arrest, and I will explain that journalism is not a crime. I expect to be released."
RELEASE ALL JOURNALISTS
Yaşar Polat, President of Haber-Sen Branch No. 2, used the following expressions in his statement: "All journalists who have been deprived of their freedom due to their journalistic activities, particularly İsmail Arı, must be released. In a democratic country, the place for journalists is not prisons; it is news centres and the head of their professional activities, which they carry out so that the public can learn the truths."
Amnesty International, making a statement ahead of the hearing, noted that the use of the criminal justice system to silence journalists must come to an end and called on the authorities to release İsmail Arı. Ruhat Sena Akşener, Director of Amnesty International Turkey, stated: "The detention and prosecution of İsmail Arı, and dozens of journalists like him, solely due to their journalistic activities is one of the current examples showing that freedom of expression is under unacceptable pressure in Turkey. Arı must be released immediately and unconditionally, and all groundless investigations and lawsuits opened against him must be dropped."
Speaking to DW Türkçe regarding the lawsuit, Ankara Bar Association President Mustafa Köroğlu also stated that the prosecution carried out against Arı is not solely about the freedom of a single journalist. Köroğlu expressed that the news, speeches, and social media posts subject to the accusations should be evaluated within the scope of journalistic activity.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the International Press Institute (IPI), along with 14 international press, writer, and freedom of expression organisations, also demanded freedom for İsmail Arı in a joint call.
In the statement made by Tekin Publishing House, the following was said: "We demand the release of İsmail Arı -who has worked to inform the public with the news stories he has signed his name to and books such as 'Kızılay Holding' and 'Menzil’in Kasası' (The Safe of Menzil) at tomorrow's hearing."
The Kara-Kızıl (Black-Red) supporter group of the Gençlerbirliği football club also included the following expressions in its statement: "We will be at the court for our friend, who has been detained unfairly and unlawfully for 74 days for practicing journalism. İsmail will come out and he will write again!"
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UP TO 8 YEARS IN PRISON IS DEMANDED
In the indictment prepared against BirGün reporter İsmail Arı, who is accused due to the news stories he reported and the corruptions he exposed, it was requested that Arı be punished on charges of 'disseminating misleading information' and 'violation of confidentiality'. A prison sentence ranging from 1 to 3 years was requested for Arı on the charge of publicly disseminating misleading information, and another 1 to 3 years on the charge of violation of confidentiality; with the allegation that the offence was committed "consecutively", a total prison sentence ranging from 2 years 3 months to 8 years 3 months was demanded.
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Gazetecilik kazanacak, published in BirGün newspaper on June 5, 2026.
