An İstanbul court on Monday jailed journalist Murat Ağırel and 14 others pending trial in a money laundering investigation involving relatives of opposition lawmaker Mustafa Sarıgül, the DHA news agency reported.
Sarıgül’s son Ömer and former wife, politician Aylin Kotil, were among those who were jailed. Two other suspects were released under judicial supervision after 17 people appeared before prosecutors and a judge, according to DHA.
Ağırel was detained at his home on Friday while already under house arrest in a separate investigation concerning his reporting on Turkey’s investment fund scandal.
Although the investigation concerns suspected money laundering, Ağırel was jailed on suspicion of aiding a criminal organization without being a member of it.
The money laundering investigation began after two German nationals alleged that companies in Turkey and abroad had been used to move large sums of money whose origins were unclear, according to the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Their complaint cited transactions worth tens of millions of euros and an alleged promise to transfer €1 billion abroad through a loan secured using political influence. The figures represent allegations in the complaint.
The complainants also alleged that they had supplied Ağırel with information and documents and were subsequently threatened after the material reached people implicated in their allegations. Prosecutors said statements, recordings and other evidence formed the basis for the detention orders.
Ağırel denied passing documents to the Sarıgül family, according to a statement published by the Cumhuriyet daily. He said he had told his source that he would seek to verify the material and put the allegations to those concerned.
He also said he had repeatedly sought evidence of the alleged transfers and that contacts in Germany had raised doubts about the authenticity of two payment receipts he received. His investigation was still underway when he was detained, he said.
Mustafa Sarıgül, a lawmaker for the main opposition New Party representing Erzincan province, has denied wrongdoing, describing the matter as a commercial dispute and questioning the authenticity of the complainants’ documents. Prosecutors said allegations concerning the lawmaker would be referred to Ankara for separate consideration.
Journalist Timur Soykan, who works with Ağırel at Onlar TV, said his colleague had been investigating the allegations and had contacted the Sarıgül family’s lawyer. Both sides accused the other of fraud, Soykan said, and Ağırel postponed publication because he considered the documents insufficient.
Ağırel also rejected suggestions that he had published the allegations, saying in a message relayed by Onlar TV that he was accustomed to being detained over stories he had written but was now being detained over one he had not written.
In the separate fund scandal case, Ağırel and fellow journalist İsmail Saymaz were put under house arrest on October 10, while journalists Şaban Sevinç and Mustafa Balcı were jailed pending trial the previous day.
All four face accusations of publicly disseminating misleading information over their reporting on alleged political connections to the scandal, which erupted in September when investment funds failed to meet investors’ withdrawal requests, triggering investigations into suspected market manipulation.
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