Press freedom group calls Turkey arrests ‘illegitimate’
ISTANBUL – Reporters Without Borders is condemning the arrest of its Turkey representative and two others on charges of “‘disseminating terrorist propaganda.”
Christophe Deloire, the secretary general of the media freedom watchdog, said Friday that the arrests are an attempt by the authorities to intimidate journalists and called them “illegitimate.” He spoke at a news conference in front of Istanbul’s Metris Prison, where the three journalists are being held.
The group’s Turkey representative Erol Onderoglu, journalist Ahmet Nesin and academic Sebnem Korur Fincanci were put under pre-trial arrest Monday for their participation in a solidarity campaign with a pro-Kurdish daily, Ozgur Gundem.
Deloire said the arrests threaten the freedom of not only the three people arrested, but of all Turkish citizens.
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