This significant development must lead to further progress in the investigation of the murder of environmental journalist and documentary filmmaker, Hakan Tosun, who died in Istanbul on 13 October 2025 after being brutally attacked three nights earlier. The preliminary report, which his family and lawyer Onur Cingil were able to consult, “confirms that the victim was beaten and killed after horrific, prolonged, and atrocious violence”, according to the lawyer.
Though the preliminary autopsy report cannot yet give a definitive cause of death, it confirms injuries to the head, haematomas, and numerous fractures across the body. These findings are consistent with the footage recorded by surveillance cameras belonging to shopkeepers in the Esenyurt district (on the European side of Istanbul), where the brutal attack took place.
Additionally, according to the report, “no traces of drugs” were found in his system — a conclusion that contradicts allegations made by two suspects held in police custody, who claimed that Hakan Tosun had taken drugs and “was behaving inappropriately”. The suspects were arrested on the night of 11 October 2025 and later remanded in custody for their involvement in the fatal attack. On 6 January, an Istanbul judge decided that they should remain in detention.