MEDIA MONITORING DATABASE
Detention of Mehmet Kamış
RELATED PERSON OR INSTITUTION
Mehmet Kamış
CITY
İzmir
YEAR OF INTERFERENCE
2023
LAST UPDATED
23/11/2024
TYPE OF STATEMENT
Political
MEDIUM
Print Media
Newspaper
THE TITLE OF WHOSE RIGHT IS INTERFERED
Editor / Editor-In-Chief
RIGHTS GUARANTEED UNDER THE RIGHT OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Right to Impart Information and Ideas
TYPE OF INTERFERENCE
Judicial Interference
Criminal Peace Judgeships
Issuing an arrest warrant
THE LEGAL GROUNDS FOR INTERFERENCE
Turkish Penal Code
Art. 309

Mehmet Kamış, former deputy editor-in-chief of the shut-down Zaman daily and the subject of an arrest warrant for “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order” (Article 309 of the Turkish Penal Code), was detained in Çeşme district of İzmir. The operation was carried out by the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Directorate and Izmir Security Directorate’s Fight Against Organized Crime Branch under the coordination of Izmir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. On November 23, Kamış was brought before the İstanbul 26th High Criminal Court in İstanbul’s Çağlayan district and arrested on the grounds of “suspicion of escape”, citing his seven years on the run despite a warrant for his arrest. Kamış will begin his trial on January 19, 2024 (November 22-23).