Journalist probed for obtaining fake passport while reporting

ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency

DHA Photo

An Istanbul prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation against a journalist on the charge of “fabricating false documents” after he got a fake passport while reporting on how to get a fake passport.

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office summoned daily Habertürk reporter Şefik Dinç to ask for his testimony on Oct. 1 as part of the investigation after Dinç obtained a fake Finnish passport in April for a series of stories on how fake passports are obtained and used in human trafficking activities.

Dinç expressed his surprise that he was summoned to testify as a “suspect,” rather than a “witness.”
“In April, we had a series of stories on smuggling of migrants, specifically on getting fake passports in these sorts of activities. I was able to get a fake Finnish passport introducing myself as a migrant in Aksaray,” Dinç said. 

Aksaray is a neighborhood in Istanbul that is popular with its large ambulant numbers of foreign nationals.

Dinç said he published the story of how he got a fake Finnish passport from human traffickers shortly before he received an SMS summoning him to court for his testimony.

“Turkey is a transit country for migrants. The number of migrants who have used Turkey as a transit port has totaled millions,” Dinç said, adding that the reason he covered the story was to point out the large amounts of money made in human trafficking.

Dinç said he paid 500 euros to get a fake passport showing he was born in Helsinki for his coverage of the story.