DW Türkçe journalist Alican Uludağ detained over reporting on ISIS case

Prominent journalist Alican Uludağ has been taken into custody from his home in connection with an investigation into allegations of “spreading disinformation” and “insulting the president,” following his coverage of a controversial terrorism case.

Uludağ, who works for Deutsche Welle’s Turkish service (DW Türkçe), was detained after authorities took issue with his December 2024 report for Now TV. In that report, Uludağ revealed that Turkey’s Court of Cassation had overturned hefty sentences for six defendants who had previously been convicted in connection with ISIS activities.

The original ruling by the İstanbul 13th Heavy Penal Court had sentenced six individuals to aggravated life imprisonment 46 times each, along with an additional 2,604 years in prison, on charges of “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order” and “premeditated murder.” A seventh defendant received a 12-year sentence for “membership in a terrorist organization.”

According to Uludağ’s reporting, the Court of Cassation determined these penalties were excessive. The higher court argued that three defendants should have instead been convicted of “membership in a terrorist organization,” one for financing terrorism, and another for merely aiding the attack. This judicial reassessment led to the release of six of the seven defendants on December 12, 2024.

The Turkish government quickly challenged Uludağ’s reporting. The Directorate of Communications’ Center for Combating Disinformation acknowledged that releases had occurred but claimed the decision did not apply to the main perpetrators of the attack. Based on this interpretation, authorities labeled Uludağ’s reporting as “disinformative,” triggering the criminal investigation.

Erol Önderdoğlu, the Turkish representative of press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), strongly condemned Uludağ’s detention. “At a time when the judiciary has bowed to political pressure, the detention of journalist Alican Uludağ shows that media freedom in Turkey is facing an even more difficult future,” he stated. “He was taken into custody simply because his investigations and criticism were uncomfortable. That’s all.”

This incident occurs against a backdrop of deteriorating press freedom in Turkey, which has consistently ranked among the world’s worst jailers of journalists in recent years. The country’s “disinformation law,” passed in 2022, has been widely criticized by international organizations as a tool to further restrict independent reporting under the guise of combating fake news. The law carries penalties of up to three years imprisonment for journalists convicted under its provisions.

Uludağ has built a respected career spanning nearly two decades, primarily as a judicial reporter focusing on human rights violations, corruption cases, and high-profile trials. His work has earned significant recognition within the journalism community, including the Uğur Mumcu Investigative Journalism Award from the Contemporary Journalists Association in 2019, the Political Reporting Award from the Turkish Journalists’ Association in 2020, and the Raif Badawi Award for Courageous Journalism from the Friedrich Naumann Foundation in 2021.

Media advocacy groups have expressed concern that Uludağ’s detention represents a troubling escalation in the government’s efforts to control reporting on sensitive issues, particularly those related to national security and terrorism cases. The detention also highlights the precarious position of journalists working for international outlets like Deutsche Welle, which has maintained coverage of Turkish affairs despite growing government pressure on foreign media operating in the country.

As of this report, Uludağ remains in custody while the investigation continues. Neither DW Türkçe nor Turkish judicial authorities have issued further statements regarding his case or potential court appearances.