Bariş Pehlivan

Pehlivan, an author and journalist, has faced multiple trials on a range of charges for his writing. He was arrested in February 2020 for “disclosing intelligence information” and sentenced to 3 years and 9 months in prison, though later released. In 2023, he faced “insult” and “calumny” charges over an interview about his book Metastaz, and briefly returned to prison. He is now on trial for “insulting a public official” and was briefly detained in January 2025. In March, he was acquitted of “influencing the judiciary” but sentenced to 1 year and 3 months for “violating secrecy of communication.” In September 2025, he faced a criminal case for "disseminating misinformation." He faced another new case in December for "misinformation" and other charges along with a group of other journalists for statements he made on a program. He was sentenced to a year and 3 months in prison for "misinformation" in this case in April 2026.