In retaliation for his expression of academic opinions and journalistic activities, on July 24, the police took Demir into custody, searched both house and office, and detained him without stating charges. During this period he was denied contact with his lawyer and family members. On August 3, he was formally arrested and jailed on suspicions of being involved in the movement behind the coup d'état attempt in Turkey. Demir has denied involvement in the movement, and publicly denounced the July 15 coup attempt in his column. As the State Department noted in its 2016 human rights report, thousands of Turkish academics and journalists were arrested after the attempted coup with fabricated evidence and little clarity on the charges. On September 1, 2016, Demir was formally dismissed from his duties at Istanbul University with a state of emergency decree that sacked thousands of academics in Turkish universities.