Fatih Altaylı throws files into the air after verdict and leaves the courtroom: Journalists and politicians react to prison sentence

Journalist Fatih Altaylı, who has been held in Silivri Prison for 258 days on charges of 'threatening the President,' appeared before the judge for the second time today. Altaylı, who requested his acquittal, was sentenced to 4 years and 2 months in prison. Furthermore, the court ruled for the continuation of his detention.

"HE THREW HIS FILES AND NOTES INTO THE AIR AND LEFT THE COURTROOM"

According to the report by journalist İsmail Saymaz, following the verdict against Fatih Altaylı, he threw the files and notes he was holding into the air and left the courtroom.

Fatih Altaylı, elindeki dosyayı ve notları havaya fırlatarak, salondan ayrıldı.

— İsmail Saymaz (@ismailsaymaz) November 26, 2025

The prison sentence handed down to Altaylı triggered a wave of reactions on social media.

"IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO TALK ABOUT LAW AND JUSTICE IN THIS COUNTRY"

Journalist Murat Ağrıel reacted to the Fatih Altaylı verdict as follows:

"What Fatih Altaylı said is actually very clear, open, and explicit. You say, 'The truth will come out in court anyway'; but instead of the truth coming out, you encounter something even worse. You have to be insane not to go insane in this country."

Journalist Barış Pehlivan:

"If Fatih Altaylı were not an influential journalist but the child of someone from the AKP, an important bureaucrat, or even the head of the Red Crescent; if he were involved in gold smuggling or drug trafficking, he would not have been arrested; he would not have received this sentence. This is not justice, law, or conscience. It is something else, something else entirely. Journalists are paying these prices for you, and they continue to pay them. What are you doing?"

Journalist Timur Soykan said the following regarding the Fatih Altaylı verdict:

"Fatih Altaylı was sentenced to 4 years and 2 months in prison without any crime, based solely on reading intentions. It is impossible to talk about law and justice in this country. Injustice is turning into torture every day."

"THIS IS AN INTIMIDATION OF ALL JOURNALISTS"

The verdict against Altaylı also resonated in the political world. 

CHP Deputy Chairman Gökçe Gökçen: "This verdict is a new stage in silencing the people's voice and cutting off their breath. It is an intimidation of all journalists. Fatih Altaylı is not alone."

CHP's Gökhan Günaydın: "This verdict is an indicator of how rapidly Turkey is moving away from being a state of law. It is an intimidation directed at the free press through Altaylı."

TİP Spokesperson Sera Kadıgil: "The crime of threat has certain material elements. To extract a 'threat' from an irrelevant remark Fatih Altaylı made during a broadcast and then give a 4-year-and-2-month prison sentence for it is a great success(!), though it would be absurd to expect the Istanbul Courthouse, which does not even care about the Constitution, to sit down and examine the material elements of a crime. Fatih Altaylı was detained for a single crime, arrested for the same crime, and 'convicted' for the same crime. And that crime is not threat or insult, but the crime of 'not being a palace sycophant while being highly watched,' which does not exist in any law!"

CHP's Ali Mahir Başarır: "If legitimate power fears thoughts, its legitimacy has become questionable! The 4-year-and-2-month prison sentence handed down to Fatih Altaylı today is the result of this fear!"

Zafer Party Spokesperson Azmi Karamahmutoğlu: "Shame on you. Shame on your persecution, your injustice."

REACTION FROM HIS LAWYER

Fatih Altaylı's lawyer, Metin Sinan Aslan, objected to the precedent cases cited in the prosecutor's opinion in his statement after the hearing.

Aslan stated, "The prosecution has presented the files of the pilots who boarded their planes and attacked the Presidency on July 15 as precedents. What does this have to do with this file?"

News Source: 12punto