A Turkish lawyer was arrested in İstanbul on Saturday for distributing hard copies of restricted social media posts of the city’s jailed mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, prompting accusations of political suppression.
Burak Saldıroğlu, formerly a youth leader in Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), was detained at his home and taken to the courthouse in İstanbul’s Çağlayan. He faced charges of “insulting the president” under Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code, a law frequently used to prosecute critics of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The judges at the Criminal Court of Peace ordered he be remanded in custody, a decision critics said was procedurally irregular, as lawyers in Turkey are typically summoned to court for initial proceedings, rather than being detained in the first instance.
Saldıroğlu’s arrest stems from his response to the censorship of İmamoğlu’s account on the social media platform X. İmamoğlu, a prominent CHP politician and Erdoğan’s main political rival, was detained on 19 March on charges of corruption, bribery and alleged ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a group involved in a decades-long conflict with the Turkish state. The authorities placed restrictions on İmamoğlu’s X account, blocking access to certain posts, leading Saldıroğlu to print and distribute them on the streets while sharing images of his action online.
The İstanbul Bar Association issued a statement on X condemning Saldıroğlu ‘s arrest of as a violation of freedom of expression and the right to defence and arguing that his detention, ordered with no justification being given, undermines legal principles. The arrest is an abuse of authority and threatens lawyers’ safety and freedom while severely restricting citizens’ access to defence, the statement noted, reflecting concerns about the Turkish government’s crackdown on dissent following İmamoğlu’s own detention on 19 March. The association also noted that the lawyer was detained for posts made within the scope of free expression, and in spite of the requirements for remand in custody not being met. They described the decision as a grave abuse of office, impacting both the legal profession’s core freedoms and public access to justice. The Young Lawyers’ Council, part of the bar association and the Centre for Lawyers’ Rights both pledged to monitor Saldıroğlu’s case closely, vowing to defend the law, the profession and their colleague.
İmamoğlu’s detention followed his rising prominence after CHP victories in İstanbul’s 2019 and 2024 municipal elections, challenging Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP). On 18 March, the day before his arrest, İstanbul University annulled İmamoğlu’s degree, a move that automatically disqualifies him from the 2028 presidential race, as it is a requirement that candidates hold a university degree. This decision, alongside his subsequent arrest, sparked nationwide protests, the largest since 2013, with nearly 2,000 people detained by police, who used tear gas and rubber bullets to try and quell the demonstrations. The authorities also blocked over 700 X accounts, including those of journalists and politicians, as reported by internet watchdog NetBlocks on 24 March.
Reporters Without Borders ranked Turkey 159th out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index. During the March protests, the authorities deported the BBC’s Mark Lowen, who was covering the rallies, after detaining him from his hotel, citing him as a “threat to public order”.
