Türkiye: the detention and judicial harassment of journalist Merdan Yanardag must end now

The detentions keep coming for Merdan Yanardag, all of them similar in nature. Yet the Constitutional Court awarded 166,500 Turkish lira (approximately 3400 EUR) in damages to Merdan Yanardag, for arbitrarilyholding him in custody from 27 June to 4 October 2023, after his criticism of the government's handling of the Kurdish question was broadcast on his television channel. In its 27 May ruling, made public on Monday, 3 November, Turkey's highest court found that the journalist - who has 42 years of experience - had "not praised the methods of a terrorist organisation" and that his imprisonment had violated "his right to security and freedom."

However, on 24 October, the journalist's right to liberty was violated once again when he thwas taken into custody at the Istanbul Security Directorate and then at the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. Two days later, the journalist was imprisoned in Istanbul's Marmara Prison on charges of "espionage" as part of an investigation targeting Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu (President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main rival) and his campaign manager, Necati Ozkan.

On the day of the operation, a judge also placed Tele1's parent company (ABC Radio Television and Digital Broadcasting Corporation) under the control of the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) as a judicial administrator. This decision threatens the channel's editorial independence and has led to the resignation of dozens of employees who refuse to work for an administrator so close to the regime.

An endless legal nightmare

RSF, which is monitoring his trials, has witnessed the journalist's legal ordeal. He has been charged with "denigrating the state" for an editorial entitled "The Mafiaislization of the Order" that questioned the government's collusion with mafia networks, published on 23 May 2021, in the daily BirGün("One Day").. After initially being sentenced to seven months and 15 days in prison, he was finally acquitted on 25 September. He was also prosecuted for "insulting the president"- a recurring charge used to muzzle the media- because of his 2022 opinion piece entitled "Fascism and Islamist Fascism," but was acquitted on 14 November 2023. As a result of television appearances during which Merdan Yanardag spoke about the government, his media outlet Tele1 has also been targeted with substantial fines by the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK).

Merdan Yanardag's case is not an isolated one: since the beginning of the year, 20 journalists have been imprisoned in Turkey because of their work - three of whom remain detained - while three others have been placed under house arrest. Türkiye is ranked 159th out of 180 countries and territories in the 2025 RSF World Press Freedom Index.