The first charges to be made in relation to the fund scandal are against four journalists who covered the case.
Istanbul Prosecutors have charged journalists İsmail Saymaz, Murat Ağırel, Şaban Sevinç, and Mustafa Balcı with crimes including insulting public officials and spreading false and misleading information. They face jail terms of more than ten years.
The charge sheets emerged on Nov. 4, the day former AKP Deputy Chair and former AKP minister Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya was summoned to testify as a suspect about her role in the fund scandal from which she emerged with more than $25 million in profits. Justice Minister Akın Gürlek, the former head prosecutor in Istanbul, says he has uncovered a criminal “network” that organized the ponzi-like share manipulation.
The reporters face jail under two separate sets of charges.
The first, against Sevinç and Balcı, accuses them of insulting AKP Deputy Chair and spokesperson Ömer Çelik in their coverage of the scandal. The prosecution requested prison sentences of up to 10 years and 10 months for Balcı, and up to 18 years, 11 months, and 15 days for Sevinç — the latter figure accounting for provisions regarding "repeated offenses".
Çelik is described as the “victim” in the indictment, which centers on a photograph Balcı shared on X showing Çelik at a concert in Bodrum. Balcı said a man visible behind him was Osman Arıkan Nacar, a former bureaucrat alleged to be on the run with millions in gains from the scam.
The second charge sheet accuses Ağırel and Saymaz of insulting Trade Minister Ömer Bolat in broadcasts on SZC TV. The prosecutor’s office is seeking prison sentences of up to 14 years and 10 months for each of the two journalists. Bolat is listed as the “complainant.”
The prosecution alleges that on Oct. 7, the journalists presented claims regarding Bolat’s investments within Hedef Portföy to the public without supporting them with concrete information or documentation. They have been charged with “publicly insulting a public official due to the performance of their duties,” “slander,” and “publicly disseminating misleading information to the public,” as well as “unlawfully obtaining or disclosing personal data” and “disclosing information classified as a commercial, banking, or client secret.”
Balcı and Sevinç are already under arrest. Their first hearing is set for Nov. 27. Both Saymaz and Ağırel were under house arrest, yet, Ağırel was later imprisoned related to another file, Mustafa Sarıgül.
Sarıgül recently resigned from the Yeni Party after the alleged corruption file that includes his former wife and sons. Ağırel is jailed for not taking into account the accusations voiced by German citizens and their business partner Sinan Çampınar who already confessed to money laundering. Ağırel recently broke the headlines with the investments of former Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek in Germany.
PRESSURE MOUNTS ON PRESS
Other members of the press are also under investigation for their coverage of the scandal.
According to the October Press Freedom Report prepared by Utku Çakırözer, deputy chair of the Yeni Party and a former journalist, 11 reporters were detained in the month and 867 X accounts were blocked.
Reporter Ali Tarakcı was charged with spreading falsehoods for predicting the resignation of a minister. Yiğit Uzun, a journalist at the pro-government Diriliş Postası, was detained and his house was searched.
Umut Güner, owner of Dünya newspaper and chair of Dünya Holding, was questioned by the prosecutor’s office and a judge before being released under conditions of house arrest and a travel ban. There have been reports of links between Dünya Holding and one of the companies now being liquidated.