Turkish Police Raid Halk TV, Halt Live Broadcasts

Police raided Halk TV’s headquarters in Istanbul on Wednesday, halted its live broadcasts and appointed a trustee manager, while prosecutors said 11 people had been detained in an investigation into alleged financial crimes involving the channel’s chairman, Cafer Mahiroğlu. The Istanbul Chief Prosecutors Office said warrants had been issued for 17 people as part of an investigation into allegations of bribery, bid-rigging and money laundering. The allegations concern Mahiroğlu, who was not among those detained and is abroad, prosecutors said. The supplied reports did not detail the evidence underlying the allegations or specify conduct attributed to each person named in the warrants. Prosecutors also said companies co-owned or managed by Mahiroğlu had been seized and placed under a government-appointed trustee. Of the six other people named in the warrants, four were abroad, one was in a correctional facility and one remained sought, according to the prosecutors’ account. Halk TV said police entered its headquarters and that a trustee had taken control of the station.