Turkish authorities must immediately release journalist Derya Okatan and stop an escalating press crackdown that in this case involves imprisoning a veteran reporter based on flimsy evidence, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday.

Okatan, who most recently worked for independent broadcaster TELE1 before it was taken over by the government, was taken into police custody at her house in Ankara on October 2 and then transferred to Istanbul where the 1st Court of Criminal Peace arrested her that same day pending trial.

She was arrested on suspicion of obtaining classified state documents, her lawyer Ziya Ergin told CPJ. The authorities questioned Okatan about 20 PowerPoint presentations, 214 Word documents, 49 Excel documents and 10 PDF files – all material they said was classified and on her hard drive.

Ergin noted the same drive had once before been confiscated by police, in 2019, when Okatan was briefly detained, and that police had made a digital copy then. In a message sent to her lawyer from prison, Okatan said she did not know when the files were placed on her hard drive or by whom.

“We are deeply concerned about the intensification of the Turkish authorities’ campaign against independent journalists,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “Derya Okatan must be freed without delay while a proper forensic examination is carried out of the hardware involved. CPJ calls for full transparency and the release of all journalists imprisoned unjustly.”

Okatan’s arrest comes as Turkish authorities have escalated their campaign against independent reporting, blocking access to the social media accounts of scores of journalists and human rights defenders in recent weeks.

This new repression is also taking place against the backdrop of a sweeping crackdown against the LGBTQ+ community, with dozens of activists and other individuals arrested.

If found guilty, Okatan could be sentenced to three to eight years in jail under Article 327 of Turkish Penal Code.

CPJ emailed the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office for comment but did not receive a reply.