Turkey Frees Journalists in High-profile Case
News / Europe
Turkey Frees Journalists in High-profile Case
February 26, 2016 3:29 AM
Turkey has released two journalists imprisoned for reports on alleged government arms smuggling to Syria, after nearly four months of imprisonment and a constitutional court ruling mandating their release.
Cumhuriyet newspaper's editor-in-chief Can Dundar and Ankara correspondent Erdem Gul were released from an Istanbul prison early Friday and were greeted by a large crowd of supporters.
In remarks after they left the prison, Dundar called the decision by the Constitutional Court "historic" in a country that has been heavily criticized for abuses of media freedom.
The secretary-general of rights group Reporters Without Borders, Christophe Deloire, said his group is "delighted" by the releases, but noted that both Dundar and Gul are still due to go on trial next month on charges of divulging state secrets. If convicted, they face possible life sentences with no provision for a pardon.
The U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists says Turkey is one of the worst nations in the world in terms of jailing journalists as a means of intimidation and suppression.
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