28 January 2025
Journalist, writer, and program host Barış Pehlivan was detained along with Halk TV’s Responsible Manager Serhan Asker and anchor Seda Selek as he arrived at the Halk TV building for his program “Kayda Geçsin.” The following day, program coordinator Kürşad Oğuz was also taken into custody. While the journalists were released under judicial control, Halk TV’s Editor-in-Chief Suat Toktaş was arrested and sent to Silivri (Marmara) Prison.
The prosecution launched the investigation under Articles 132–133 of the Turkish Penal Code (TPC) (“Listening to and Recording Conversations Between Persons”) and Article 277 (“Attempting to Influence an Expert Witness”). The detentions were based on the allegation that a phone call between Barış Pehlivan and a court-appointed expert, which was later mentioned in a press conference by Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, had been “recorded without authorization and that the expert’s name was revealed in a way that could target them and influence the course of the trial.”
