July 2, 2025
Following a smear campaign on social media against LeMan over a war-critical cartoon alleged to depict Prophet Muhammad and Prophet Moses, Managing Editor-in-Chief Zafer Aknar, graphic designer Cebrail Okçu, cartoonist Doğan Pehlevan and Administrative Director Ali Yavuz were taken into custody and arrested.
July 9, 2025
An arrest warrant was issued for Managing Editor Aslan Özdemir, who was abroad.
September 4, 2025
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment against Managing Editor-in-Chief Zafer Aknar, graphic designer Cebrail Okçu, cartoonist Doğan Pehlevan, Administrative Director Ali Yavuz and Editor-in-Chief Mehmet Tuncay Akgün. It is alleged that all detained LeMan personnel committed the offense of “public incitement to hatred and hostility.” An arrest warrant was also issued for the magazine’s owner, Tuncay Akgün, who was abroad at the time of the incident.
September 4, 2025
In the LeMan case, detained staff members—Aknar, Özdemir, Okçu and Yavuz—were released. Doğan Pehlevan remains in detention.
