BirGün writer Timur Soykan is being taken to court

BirGün writer Timur Soykan, who was detained yesterday on the grounds of social media posts, is being transferred to court.

Journalist Şule Aydın announced on her social media account yesterday that Soykan had been detained, stating that the reason was his X posts.

Our writer Soykan had made posts on his social media account criticising the operations carried out against three CHP-affiliated municipalities. Soykan was detained yesterday on charges of ‘publicly disseminating misleading information’ due to these posts.

Soykan, who gave a statement at the İstanbul Police Department on Vatan Street yesterday evening, is being transferred to the Istanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan today.

"I STAND BY MY WORDS AND CRITICISM TO THE END"

Timur Soykan stated in his statement to the police yesterday, ‘My detention is no different from a joke,’ and added: "I stand by my posts and my words and criticism here to the end. There is a group that is abusing its authority with political instructions and trying to suppress the opposition. Individuals who are supposed to defend justice for the entire society are abusing their authority by acting on political instructions. The fact that operations are being carried out against opposition mayors targeted by politicians under the guise of an anti-corruption operation is proof of this and an open secret. Despite this open secret known to everyone, my arrest on the charge of spreading misleading information is no different from a joke."

The statement of Timur Soykan, who was detained, has been completed: "I stand by my words and criticism to the end."

JOURNALISTS IN FRONT OF THE COURT

Journalists made a statement in front of the Istanbul Courthouse. Erol Önderoğlu, representative of Reporters Without Borders in Turkey, said, "Our friend was detained for expressing his opinions. He was arbitrarily detained once again on charges of disinformation. At this point, even the most ordinary criticism of the government is leading to journalists being brought before the courts and facing the threat of imprisonment. We want our friend to be released immediately."

İzel Sezer from DİSK Basın-İş said, "Timur Soykan is a journalist who has carried the truth. We hope he will be released today."

Özgür Deniz Kaya, President of the Istanbul Branch of TGS, said, ‘Journalism is not just about reporting news. It can also be critical, and we believe he will be released shortly.’

WHAT DID TİMUR SOYKAN SAY?

BirGün writer Timur Soykan, in a post he made yesterday morning regarding the detention of Adıyaman Mayor Abdurrahman Tuttere, used the phrases, ‘The coup continues. The will of the people is being usurped. The meaning of the ballot box is lost.’

Regarding the new detention news, he also said, "Let 'defeating the AKP in the election' be criminalised by law. This way, they can be rid of the burden of pretending that the judiciary still exists." and "The regime is declaring that it no longer has any concern for convincing society of corruption operations. It is telling the people, 'You cannot choose any government other than mine. You are my prisoners.' The people will either submit to this pressure and become slaves to the regime, becoming even poorer, or they will defend their freedom, their rights, and their country."