The new Turkey
Sedef Kabas.
Journalist and television presenter

Journalist and television presenter Sedef Kabas -- who was detained and later released in December of last year because she posted tweets critical of the government's handling of a major corruption investigation -- has been acquitted in a case where she was charged with keeping police officers waiting in front of her house when they came to conduct a search related to the December case.

Kabas was detained and later released on Dec. 30, 2014, for posting tweets critical of the government's handling of a major corruption investigation. Police officers searched her home and seized her computer in the ?ekmek?y district of Istanbul early on the morning of that day after a prosecutor's complaint.

An indictment prepared by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office against Kabas despite the police officers who carried out the search not filing a complaint against the journalist sought up to five years, four months in prison for her, ostensibly because she had kept police officers waiting when they had arrived to search her home. Kabas faced charges of "making insults" and "preventing officers from doing their duty."

The indictment stated that Kabas said, "You are not objective, you are partial," while addressing the police officers who had come to her house. The indictment also stated that Kabas shut her door in the police officers' faces.

The Istanbul 26th Criminal Court of First Instance ruled to acquit Kabas in the first hearing of the case, saying the acts of resisting police officers and insulting public officers did not take place.

Police officers Ismail Ilker C., Mustafa Metin ?. and Cenk B., who were present in the courtroom on Tuesday, reported what happened on the morning of the detention, saying Kabas asked who they were and closed the door, saying she wanted to speak with her lawyer. After 15 to 20 minutes, Kabas let them in, the officers said, and added that they didn't file a complaint against Kabas. In her defense Kabas denied resisting the police and said after speaking with her lawyer she let the police officers in and helped them to conduct the search.

Speaking to journalists in front of Istanbul Courthouse after the hearing, Kabas said as there was no crime and the police officers didn't file a complaint, the case resulted in an acquittal.

"I just said 'don't forget the chief prosecutor Hadi Salihoglu who closed the case of the Dec. 17 corruption investigation.' It was not a criticism against him. It was a criticism against his decision. We won't forget the ones who stole and carried out graft and we won't allow them to be forgotten," Kabas said.

Kabas faces up to five years in prison for her statements on Twitter on charges of targeting individuals involved in the fight against terrorism. The case launched against her for her critical tweet -- which said not to forget the prosecutor who dismissed the Dec.17 investigation -- seeks up to five years, four months in prison for the journalist. On April 30, the Istanbul 22nd Criminal Court of First Instance cited its lack of jurisdiction to hear her trial and sent the case file to be heard by a high criminal court

Journalist and television presenter Sedef Kabas and prominent journalist Mehmet Baransu were detained on Tuesday over critical tweets.

Kabas had criticized prosecutors for dropping a Dec. 17 corruption and bribery investigation that implicated various high-raking state officials, and Baransu had made critical comments on Twitter about an advisor of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Police detained Kabas after searching her home and seizing her computer, the Turkish media reported on Tuesday.

According to the reports, the prosecutors who dropped corruption and bribery charges against 53 suspects -- charges that forced four government ministers to step down following the exposure of a graft probe that shook the entire country when it went public on Dec. 17 of last year -- filed a criminal complaint against Kabas over her tweet.

Police raided Kabas's home in the �ekmek�y district of Istanbul early on Tuesday upon the complaint of the prosecutors and detained her after a search of the house.

Speaking with the Radikal daily following her detention, Kabas stated that she was detained and her home was raided on charges of “targeting individuals involved in the fight against terrorism.” Kabas said her iPad, computer and mobile phone were confiscated by the police officers who searched her home. Kabas also maintained: “I believe in the law. I think that there are also people who still believe in the law.”

Posting successive tweets on Kabas's detention and the search conducted at her home, lawyer Celal �lgen wrote that Twitter does not share its Twitter users' IP addresses or details about users' identities with Turkish police or intelligence, adding: “This is why the IT crime units found another way to deal with Twitter users. They issue search warrants against those who post tweets and they confiscate their computers and they conduct an investigation over the evidence [found on the computer]. If the tweet that is regarded as a crime is not posted via that confiscated computer, there is nothing they can do.”

Baransu detained for tweet about Varnak

Journalist Baransu was also detained early Tuesday morning over a tweet he posted critical of Erdogan's advisor Mustafa Varank. Baransu was released pending trial after his testimony at the court that same day. Speaking with Today's Zaman, Baransu said that he was detained after Varank filed a complaint against him over his tweet.

Baransu, whose revelations have launched massive and sometimes controversial coup trials, was detained on Tuesday morning -- for the fourth time. Baransu has been detained three times before on various charges. He is a leading outspoken journalist and represents a newspaper that has been in the forefront in criticizing the government of Erdogan.

Many on social media speculated that Baransu was detained to be questioned about two controversial CDs he provided to prosecutors six years ago -- primary evidence of alleged coup plotting by senior Turkish army officers, who spent years in prison pending trial. A recent court-sanctioned report by experts concluded that the signatures on the CDs were fake, invalidating their content.

Baransu's detention came a day after former Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug spoke at length about a "plot" to jail him and his colleagues. Basbug was condemned to life in prison both in the Ergenekon and Sledgehammer coup trials. Most of the suspects and convicts in these trials were set free this summer after the Constitutional Court ruled that most of the defendants' rights were violated with unnecessary arrests before conclusive court decisions.

On Monday Basbug also went to an Istanbul courthouse to file a complaint for what he claimed was a "plot" to jail him and his fellow army officers.

Press Council: Is there state of emergency?

The detention of Baransu and Kabas attracted harsh criticism from journalist associations.

The Press Council released a written statement on Tuesday in which it condemned the recent detentions, asking whether there is a state of emergency in Turkey. The statement said: “The detention of journalists Sedef Kabas and Mehmet Baransu over their tweets, the search of Kabas's house, and the confiscation of her computer and mobile phone are practices that pertain to the extraordinary periods during which democracy was suspended.”

The organization's statement also said that these kinds of practices are in contradiction with recent remarks of President Erdogan, who said that nowhere in the world is the media as free as it is in Turkey. The council also called for the release of Kabas as soon as possible.

The Turkish Journalists' Association (TGC) also released a written statement over the recent detentions, saying that the government is trying to intimidate the journalists.

Contemporary Journalists Association (�GD) Chairman Ahmet Abakay said that the detention of Kabas over a tweet is unjust, adding: “If journalists cannot criticize, how can they do their jobs? If journalists are unable to write their opinions, they should then leave their jobs completely.”

PEN Turkey Vice President Halil Ibrahim �zcan also criticized Kabas's detention, saying that Turkey is being dragged into a dictatorship by preventing journalists from expressing their opinions. “We have been monitoring and reporting the pressure [on journalists in Turkey] for a long time. The recent detention of Sedef Kabas shows that this pressure will increase further. The pressure and restrictions on journalism should be stopped.”

TGF chairman: No one is safe in Turkey

Commenting on the issue, Turkish Journalists Federation (TGF) Chairman Atilla Sertel said that no one is safe in Turkey, adding that the judiciary and the police have both been redesigned by a government which “does not want to hear anything that is critical of it.” Sertel stated that raiding a person's house and confiscating their personal belongings is against human rights, emphasizing that the detention of Kabas is an attempt to intimidate those who post critical tweets. “This is a very tragicomic situation,” Sertel added.

Turkey was ranked as "not free" in Freedom House's latest "media freedom" index, and international press advocacy bodies are increasingly critical of the authorities' treatment of journalists. Most recently, a major crackdown on media organs critical of the government resulted in the detention of journalists and scriptwriters.

Zaman Editor-in-Chief Ekrem Dumanli and Samanyolu Broadcasting Group General Manager Hidayet Karaca were taken into custody on Dec. 14 as part of the government-backed police operation. They were detained along with 28 others in the operation.

The detention of Kabas and Baransu came a few days after President Erdogan said more journalists will be taken into custody, brushing off criticism over media freedom.

Speaking at a symposium in Ankara that critical news outlets were not allowed to cover, Erdogan claimed that "nowhere in the world is the media as free as it is in Turkey" when responding to criticism in the wake of the police raid on journalists on Dec. 14.

On Oct. 17 journalist Aytekin Gezici was also detained in the same manner as Kabas. Police raided Gezici's home, detained him and seized various belongings in his house. His lawyer said the journalist was detained and his house searched because of certain tweets the writer had posted. Gezici was released the same day after being questioned at the police station.

Speaking with the press on his detention, Gezici had said he was asked about 20-30 questions and that they were all about the tweets he had posted. He said he was asked why he had tweeted and re-tweeted certain things and why he had starred specific tweets.