Turkish police detained two journalists on Friday over allegations that they spread misleading information about a scandal involving investment funds, while two others were released under judicial control, media reported. The four journalists were brought in on Friday over publications that raised questions about the involvement of senior figures in the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). A court ordered the pre-trial detention of Mustafa Balci, of the opposition newspaper Sozcu, and Saban Sevinc, of the online news channel Bizim, after they shared on X a photograph suggesting a link between AKP spokesman Omer Celik and one of the main suspects in the case, who is connected to an investment fund. The court at the same time allowed the conditional release of Ismail Saymaz and Murat Agirel of Sozcu, against whom the trade minister had filed a criminal complaint and a lawsuit over reporting that questioned his possible responsibility in the scandal.
A scandal shaking Turkish politics
The case has unsettled Turkish politics in recent weeks, after Turkey's Capital Markets Board (SPK) placed seven companies managing 131 investment funds into liquidation. Turkish media estimate their toxic assets at around $17 billion, with some 455,000 small savers affected by the scandal. The opposition and some media outlets accuse figures in power of illicit enrichment, and a senior AKP official has already been forced to resign. On Thursday, the main opposition party, Yeni Parti (New Party), accused two ministers by name of embezzlement, increasing the pressure on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Ministers deny wrongdoing
Trade Minister Omer Bolat and Family Minister Mahinur Ozdemir Goktas rejected the accusations. Speaking to the private Turkish broadcaster NTV on Friday, AKP Secretary-General Eyup Kadir Inan said the party was facing "a web of lies, a smear campaign attacking our government." He added that the party would not allow itself or the government to be targeted, either by Yeni Parti or by the journalists he said it pays to act as its mouthpieces, warning that opposition leader Ozgur Ozel and his allies would "pay" for what he called lies and slander. Goktas announced on X that she would file criminal complaints over the false accusations against her, and threatened media outlets spreading what she called slander, arguing that "press freedom cannot be used as a shield for a smear campaign." On Thursday, Bolat also filed a criminal complaint and lawsuit against two further journalists, from Sozcu and the newspaper Cumhuriyet, who are likewise accused of spreading misleading information.
Plans to compensate victims
In an interview with the newspaper Sabah, Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said 141 individuals and 73 legal entities had recorded record profits in connection with the case. According to Gurlek, prosecutors are now demanding that these sums be deposited into a "voluntary restitution account" and redistributed to the victims, and the ruling party is expected to present a bill setting out a compensation procedure for those affected in the near future. Gurlek made clear, however, that repaying the money does not necessarily mean those under investigation will escape prosecution, a question that appears to have become a fixation for opposition media and politicians.
Source: AMNA
