28 January 2025
Halk TV’s Responsible Manager Serhan Asker was detained along with journalist Barış Pehlivan and anchor Seda Selek inside the Halk TV building. The following day, program coordinator Kürşad Oğuz was also detained. The journalists were later released under judicial control, while 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 justified because a phone call between Barış Pehlivan and a court-appointed expert had been “recorded without authorization and the expert’s name revealed in a way that could target them and influence the course of the trial,” as raised in a press conference by Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.
4 March 2025
The Istanbul 54th Criminal Court of First Instance acquitted five journalists who had been prosecuted over the broadcast on Halk TV of a meeting with a court-appointed expert whose name had been disclosed by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.
Journalist Barış Pehlivan, program host Seda Selek, responsible manager Serhan Asker, Programs Director Kürşat Oğuz, and Editor-in-Chief Suat Toktaş — who had been detained for 34 days — were facing charges of “listening to and recording conversations between individuals” (Turkish Penal Code Articles 132–133) and “attempting to influence an expert” (Article 277).
Regarding the accusation of “listening to and recording public conversations between individuals,” the court ruled that the mandatory reconciliation procedure had not been carried out and referred the case to the conciliation bureau.
At the hearing, the court ordered the release of Toktaş, maintained the international travel ban for all defendants, but lifted the judicial control measure requiring the non-detained defendants to sign in once a week. The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that it would appeal the rulings issued at the first hearing.
