They were arrested and released during the İmamoğlu protests: Prosecution seeks sentencing for 7 journalists!

Following the arrest of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Mayor and CHP Presidential Candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, numerous people were arrested and sent to prison for participating in the protests that ensued.

Among those arrested were 7 journalists who were on the field to do their jobs and cover the news: Kurtuluş Arı, Gökhan Kam, Bülent Kılıç, Yasin Akgül, Ali Onur Tosun, Zeynep Kuray, and Hayri Tunç. They were detained and arrested, but were later released under judicial control.

An indictment has been prepared for the journalists, who were released from Silivri Prison on March 27. The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has requested sentencing for the journalists on the charge of "participating in unlawful meetings and marches unarmed and failing to disperse despite warnings."

The indictment included the following statements:

"In their statements, they declared that they were at the scene within the scope of journalism and photojournalism activities; however, upon examination of the file, it was determined that no findings were made by law enforcement to confirm that the suspects were performing journalistic activities at the scene. In this context, given the inability to obtain evidence or indications to corroborate the suspects' statements, our Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has not found their statements credible. Based on the interrogation records, police investigation reports, the prohibition decision issued by the Governor's Office, and the entire scope of the file, it is concluded that the suspects, whose identities are written above, continued to participate in an unlawful meeting and demonstration despite the prohibition decision taken by the Istanbul Governor's Office and warnings to disperse. By insisting on not dispersing despite warnings, they committed the crime specified in Article 32/1 of the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations No. 2911. Pursuant to Article 170/2 of the Criminal Procedure Code, sufficient suspicion has been established, and the appreciation of the evidence belongs to your court. It is requested on behalf of the public that the suspects be tried openly in your court, punished according to the aforementioned law for the alleged crimes, that the security measures regulated in Article 53 of the Turkish Penal Code be applied due to the intentional crime committed, and that the time spent by the suspects in custody/detention be deducted from their sentences pursuant to Article 63 of the Turkish Penal Code."