Halk TV editor-in-chief arrested over airing secret recording
ISTANBUL
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An Istanbul court has ordered the arrest of Suat Toktaş, the editor-in-chief of the private broadcaster Halk TV, for authorizing the release of a recording of a phone conversation with an expert witness.
Prosecutors initiated the investigation after Halk TV aired a secretly recorded phone conversation between its journalist, Barış Pehlivan, and Satılmış Büyükcanayakın, who was purportedly appointed as an expert in investigations targeting municipalities governed by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
Alongside Toktaş and Pehlivan, Halk TV’s managing director Serhan Asker, program director Kürşad Oğuz and presenter Seda Selek were also detained.
While four of them were released under judicial control with an overseas travel ban, Toktaş was arrested and sent to prison.
Pehlivan, in his defense, emphasized that it was the editor-in-chief who ultimately decided to broadcast the recording.
Pehlivan asserted that he was unaware the recording would be aired and had explicitly warned Toktaş that no consent had been obtained while recording the phone call.
“Even though editor-in-chief Toktaş claimed that he assumed Pehlivan had obtained consent from the expert witness, a seasoned journalist with years of experience should have acutely confirm that the recording should not have been aired without explicit permission,” an official document said.
The probe targeting the opposition-aligned Halk TV provoked widespread backlash from political figures and press organizations.
In a video message on Jan. 30, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu condemned the "unlawful pressure exerted on journalists."
"A small group of people is trying to silence politicians, journalists and the public,” he said.
It was İmamoğlu who raised the allegations about Büyükcanayakın during a press briefing on Jan. 27. He also accused him of submitting fabricated reports to court.
Istanbul prosecutors have launched a separate investigation into İmamoğlu over these remarks.