Detained journalist Osman Çaklı at the courthouse

Journalist Osman Çaklı, who was detained last night on the grounds of a post he made on his social media account, has given his statement at the courthouse. Çaklı, who was referred to the courthouse following his processing at the police station, is currently being questioned by the prosecutor.

"THIS IS ALSO A PUBLIC DENUNCIATION"

Çaklı, who gave his statement to the prosecutor, was asked about his social media post. Çaklı gave the following response to the question posed:

"I am a journalist and I report on crime-related news. I shared these photos that I saw on social media platforms. After the incident, as a journalist, I made a prediction that it was carried out by a gang called the 'Şapkalılar' (The Hat-Wearers). My witness account and involvement in the incident go no further than this. I have no involvement other than journalism. I do not know anyone related to the group called the Şapkalılar. I have no connection to them. This is also a public denunciation."

"INSULTING THE PRESIDENT" CHARGE ALSO FILED

In addition to the charge of "praising a crime and a criminal," Osman Çaklı, whose statement process was completed, was also faced with the allegation of "insulting the President." In his defense regarding this charge, Çaklı stated the following:

"Regarding the subject of Insulting the President, I do not believe that my post, which was among the posts mentioned in the report, stating 'If Erdoğan had participated in Babala TV and encountered a pool of questions as tough as those asked to Kılıçdaroğlu, probably 750 people participating in the program would have been detained,' contains a crime.

The expressions continuing in my post that began with 'Erdoğan is speaking after the iftar where he met with farmers...' are the President's own expressions.

The post that began with 'From a fascist party to another fascist party so that Turkey will normalize...' is a post in which I did not even criticize President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan personally. The person I referred to as 'coming from a fascist party' is Gürhan Kocaman, who left the MHP and moved to the IYI Party, and the post was made in reference to him having his photo taken with Ayhan Bora Kaplan, who is an organized crime leader. This post has nothing to do with either the President or his party.

In my post regarding Erokspor, the phrase 'Erdoğan's project team' is used. In this context, the expressions following the post are also expressions that do not constitute a crime and are available in open sources."

WHAT HAPPENED?

Osman Çaklı, who was taken to the police station after being detained last night and referred to the courthouse after his procedures there, had been charged with "praising a crime and a criminal" on the grounds of a post he made on his social media account.

In the post in question, Çaklı stated that the Şafak Hospital in Okmeydanı had been subjected to an armed attack during the night and had used the following expressions:

"Who or whom carried out the attack should be revealed after the investigation. However, a gang group calling themselves the Şapkalılar claimed responsibility for the attack by opening a banner and posing, claiming they were on the side of the workers"