An Istanbul court on Nov. 26 sentenced prominent Turkish journalist Fatih Altaylı to four years and two months in prison on charges of threatening President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Altaylı, a 63-year-old veteran commentator whose YouTube program draws hundreds of thousands of viewers, was arrested in June and accused of issuing and publicly disseminating a threat against the president.
The investigation was launched over remarks he made in a video that prosecutors said specifically targeted Erdoğan and included threatening language.
Announcing its verdict on Nov. 26, the court handed down the sentence without suspending it — a step generally possible for prison terms under five years.
As a result, Altaylı will remain in custody and serve the term if an appeals court upholds the ruling. Prosecutors had sought at least five years in their final opinion.
“My remarks could not realistically have frightened the president. The Presidential Protection Directorate employs 4,000 personnel,” Altaylı told the court on Nov. 26, according to remarks cited by the Demirören News Agency.
He said there had been no change in this number after his comments, arguing that this demonstrated there had been no credible threat.
“The president is not someone who scares easily. What is happening here is unfair both to me and to the president. It is very clear that I had no such intent,” Altaylı added.
Altaylı, who has been held for nearly five months in the prison in the Silivri district, appeared in court with participation of Erdoğan’s lawyer.
Several of his long-time friends, including renowned historian İlber Ortaylı, journalist Murat Bardakç and prominent geologist Celal Şengör, also attended the hearing.
After being imprisoned, Altaylı continued to produce his YouTube broadcasts through letters sent to his team but paused the program in October following his first hearing.
