Journalist Tolga Şardan detained over report on MIT's 'judiciary report'!

T24 columnist Tolga Şardan was detained as part of an investigation launched ex officio by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office following his article published yesterday titled, "What is in the 'judiciary report' that the MIT submitted to the Presidency?"

It was learned that a search was conducted at Şardan's home.

While it was stated that the investigation was launched due to Şardan's article regarding an MIT report submitted to President Tayyip Erdoğan that contained findings on allegations of corruption in the judiciary, it was learned that Şardan is accused of "publicly disseminating misleading information."

In his article yesterday, Şardan wrote, "The MIT Presidency prepared a special report on the decay in the judiciary and delivered it to the Presidency. The sources I spoke with pointed out that the Istanbul Bakırköy Courthouse is at the center of the allegations of decay in the judiciary."

STATEMENT FROM THE CHIEF PUBLIC PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office issued a statement regarding the detention of Şardan.

The statement from the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office is as follows:

"By our Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office; it has been evaluated that the content of the article titled 'What is in the 'judiciary report' that the MIT submitted to the Presidency?', written by Tolga Şardan and published on the news website T24.com.tr on 31/10/2023, contains statements and expressions that constitute the elements of the crime of 'Publicly Disseminating Misleading Information' regulated under Article 217/A of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) No. 5237. An investigation has been launched ex officio against the suspect Tolga ŞARDAN in accordance with Article 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CMK), and the suspect has been detained within the scope of the investigation."