12 August 2024

Evrensel newspaper’s İzmir office was attacked with gunfire during the night of 12 to 13 August. The office was empty at the time of the attack. The assailant, later identified as İsa Can Biler, opened fire on the building. An examination revealed that 10 bullets hit the office and the newspaper’s signboard.

Following the attack, Biler was taken into custody on 13 August but was released the next day. Evrensel reported that the prosecutor investigating the attack blocked the lawyers’ access to the case file for three days. The lawyers later accessed the case through the National Judiciary Informatics System (UYAP), after which further legal action was taken.

In his statement, Biler claimed he bore no hostility towards the newspaper and that he was unaware the building housed Evrensel’s office. On 18 August, İzmir 2nd Criminal Judgeship of Peace ordered his pre-trial detention on charges of “armed threat” (Turkish Penal Code, Article 106) and “possession of an unlicensed firearm” (Law No. 6136). It was also reported that another individual who had accompanied Biler to the newspaper’s office was under investigation.