Mezopotamya Agency reporter Fırat Can Arslan was detained in a raid at his home in Ankara and taken to Ankara Security Directorate. Arslan’s phone and computer were seized during the raid.

Diyarbakır 2nd Criminal Judicature of Peace arrested Arslan on charges of “targeting people who took part in the fight against terrorism” (TMK 6/1), claiming that the judicial control condition would be insufficient. In the grounds for arrest, the judgeship stated: “It has been decided to arrest Arslan on the grounds that he shared the names of the public prosecutor and his wife, a judge working at the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office’s Terrorism Crimes Investigation Bureau, that the public prosecutor’s new place of duty has been indicated by emphasizing the case related to his duty and the journalists arrested in this case file, that there is concrete evidence indicating strong suspicion of a crime and that judicial control will be insufficient due to the strong possibility of escape.”

In his statement, Arslan said that he did not accept the accusations and added, “I only shared the decree of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors in my post, I did not add any commentary, I had no intention or purpose to target anyone.”

Mezopotamya News Agency (MA) reporters Delal Akyüz, T24 editor Sibel Yükler, bianet women’s and LGBTI+ news editor Evrim Kepenek and journalist Evrim Deniz, who shared Arslan’s tweet, were released after being detained (July 25).

On October 31, the court acquitted and released Arslan on the grounds that “the elements of the charged crime did not occur” (October 31)