Court lifts travel ban on Soner Yalçın
The travel ban imposed on journalist Soner Yalçın has been lifted by a court decision. Yalçın had previously been released under judicial control conditions.
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OdaTV owner Soner Yalçın had been detained as part of an Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) case on charges of "publicly disseminating misleading information" and "knowingly and willingly aiding an organization." Following his statement at the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, Yalçın was released with a travel ban imposed as a judicial control measure.
The Istanbul 40th High Criminal Court re-evaluated the judicial control measure against Yalçın ahead of the first hearing scheduled for March 9. The court decided to lift the judicial control condition regarding Soner Yalçın's travel ban. Thus, the restriction on Yalçın has been removed.
No evaluation was made regarding the judicial control measures for other journalists mentioned in the same case, namely Şaban Sevinç, Aslı Aydıntaşbaş, Ruşen Çakır, Batuhan Çolak, and Yavuz Oğhan. In its interim decision, the court also left open the right to appeal the judicial control measure imposed on Soner Yalçın.
The decision to lift Soner Yalçın's travel ban was taken unanimously on January 22, 2026, following a review of the file.