ISTANBUL (Medyascope) – BirGün correspondent İsmail Arı was arrested late Saturday (March 21) in Turkey’s eastern province of Tokat. Arı, normally based at BirGün’s offices, had been visiting family in Tokat to celebrate the Ramadan holiday (Eid al-Fitr).
Arı was then transported to Ankara by authorities early Sunday morning.
Ankara’s Chief Prosecutor has accused Arı of ‘openly spreading misleading information to the public’.
Arı’s employer, BirGün, is an opposition-leaning online newspaper known for reporting extensively on corruption in Turkey. Timur Soykan, another well known journalist from BirGün, has previously been subjected to arrests and raids.
In his statement made at police headquarters, Arı pointed to his recent reporting as the likely reason for his arrest:
“I know that certain bureaucrats and politicians have been quite uneasy about the news I’ve been reporting, especially over the past year. The four posts I made that were purportedly the reason for my arrest do not seem like a reasonable justification to detain me for hours on end.”
Arı: The government should be giving me an award for my reporting
Recent reporting by Arı had exposed corruption in the Yunus Emre Institute, a government-funded non-profit organization based in Ankara. For his reporting on Yunus Emre, Arı was the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious Uğur Mumcu Award for Investigative Journalism.
“The government should be giving me an award for my reporting, which exposed the ways that the Yunus Emre Institute was stealing from the Turkish public. Instead, I am being subjected to an investigation. Shortly after my Yunus Emre report was published, investigations into embezzlement were launched by the Ankara Chief Prosecutor, and criminal complaints were filed.”
Following Arı’s arrest, BirGün announced protests in both Ankara and Istanbul.
In a statement shared by his lawyer, Arı said “For the past year, they have been looking for an excuse to arrest me. My only crime is being a journalist. Journalism is not a crime.”
Arı’s arrest has been condemned by numerous journalists, unions, and professional organizations in Turkey.
Journalist İsmail Arı arrested | Written/translated by Leo Kendrick for Medyascope
