Journalist Sezgin Kartal, who was taken into custody on 10 January, Working Journalists' Day, as part of an investigation carried out by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, was sent to prison.

He was transferred to the Istanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan on Friday. Having given a statement at the prosecutor's office, Kartal was referred to the Criminal Court of Peace on the charge of "being a member of a terrorist organization". The court sent the journalist to prison.

Outside the court, a protest was organized by journalists and MPs who reiterated that, despite the repression, "the free press cannot be silenced".

HDP MP Serpil Kemalbay said that a journalist was jailed with yet another empty file. Noting that the arrest of Sezgin Kartal was a continuation of the attack on free press workers, Kemalbay condemned this unlawful decision and said that "such arrests show that no one in Turkey has judicial security anymore. This arrest also shows that reckless attacks on the press in the months before the elections. Once again, we say that Sezgin Kartal and the free press cannot be silenced."