Two journalists detained in Turkey’s fund probe face up to 29 years in prison

İstanbul prosecutors have indicted two journalists over social media posts about a concert attended by ruling party spokesperson Ömer Çelik and a suspect in a wide-ranging investment fund investigation, seeking prison sentences of up to 10 years and 10 months for one and 18 years and 11 months for the other.

Mustafa Balcı, a reporter for the daily Sözcü, and Şaban Sevinç were taken into custody and subsequently placed in pretrial detention on Oct 9.

The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office charged both journalists with “publicly disseminating misleading information,” “slander” and “publicly insulting a public official because of their duties.”

The indictment centers on posts from the journalists’ X accounts and reporting about an August concert organized by the Limak Philharmonic Orchestra in Muğla.

The journalists shared a photograph showing Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) and Çelik with Osman Arıkan Nacar, one of the suspects named in the fund investigation.

Prosecutors alleged that posts about Çelik’s attendance at the concert and its cost contained misleading information and accused him of wrongdoing.

The indictment cited the wording of the posts, videos and photographs published by the journalists, as well as the content of their reporting, alleging that the posts affected Çelik’s public reputation.

The İstanbul 43rd Penal Court of First Instance accepted the indictment and scheduled the first hearing for Nov 27.

Nacar’s links to the fund scandal

Previous reports said Nacar was allegedly linked to fund transactions worth about 20 billion liras and had left the country during the investigation. Another company partner, Ali Göl, was arrested.

Nacar appeared in a photograph from the Bodrum concert alongside Çelik, Limak Holding honorary chair Nihat Özdemir and businessperson Yıldırım Demirören.

The main opposition New (Yeni) Party’s spokesperson Zeynel Emre had previously asked Çelik whether he had vacationed with Nacar in Bodrum and whether they had returned to Ankara together.

The fund investigation began after prosecutors detected unusual transactions involving certain funds and stocks. The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office requested information and documents from the Capital Markets Board (SPK) on Aug 19.

The board decided on Sep 17 to liquidate 131 funds.

The investigation expanded in September and October, with detentions of businesspeople and former officials.

Authorities have determined that more than 200 people made about 3.7 billion dollars in profits from investment funds whose value was artificially inflated in what has been described as a “Fonzi” scheme, a play on the term Ponzi scheme.

(HA/VK)