19.10.2026 23:31
Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mansur Yavaş reacted to the arrest of journalist Murat Ağırel. In his statement, Yavaş said, "What is the concrete justification that necessitates the arrest of a journalist who is under house arrest and against whom a judicial control measure has already been imposed? Which risk of flight or destruction of evidence makes the detention measure mandatory? Justice finds its true meaning only when the law is applied equally and proportionately to everyone."
An investigation is ongoing into allegations that teams from the Istanbul Police Department's Financial Crimes Branch Directorate carried out transactions aimed at laundering large amounts of money of unknown origin through companies established domestically and abroad, under the coordination of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, that these funds were not used in accordance with investment contracts, and that proceeds of crime were given a legal appearance.
JOURNALIST MURAT AĞIREL IS ALSO AMONG THE 15 ARRESTED SUSPECTS
The police procedures of 17 suspects taken into custody in the operation conducted within the scope of the investigation have been completed. After a medical examination, the suspects were taken to the courthouse.
Among the suspects whose statements were taken at the prosecutor's office, Ömer Sarıgül, Özgür Bölükbaşı, Sadullah Ergün, Selim Daşdemir, Volkan Aslanbaş, Zekai Erdem, Zekeriya Yasemin, Aylin Kotil, Bayram Özata, Caner Baş, Cavidan Tanrah Artuner, Cihan Durak, Cihat Salman, Murat Ağırel and Mehmet Ali Aslan were referred to the magistrate's court with a request for their arrest.
Suspects Cemil Vasken Barın and Uğur Kurtulan, however, were sent to the court with a request for judicial control. In line with the request, the court decided to arrest 15 suspects and to impose judicial control measures on 2 suspects.
REACTION FROM MANSUR YAVAŞ
Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mansur Yavaş reacted to the arrest of Murat Ağırel. In a statement on his social media account, Yavaş said: 'Journalist Murat Ağırel did not publish a news story because he could not obtain sufficient information and documents on a subject he was investigating. Now he is being arrested on the grounds that he did not publish the story.'
So, what would have happened if he had published that story and the allegations had not been confirmed? Would he not then have faced a disinformation charge?
Moreover, what is the concrete justification that requires the arrest of a journalist who is under house arrest and against whom judicial control measures have already been imposed? What risk of flight or destruction of evidence makes the arrest measure mandatory? Justice finds its true meaning only when the law is applied equally and proportionately to everyone.