Press freedom groups demand release of journalists held in Turkey

Global rights and press freedom groups have called on the Turkish authorities to release journalists working for Vice News who were detained on Thursday (27 August) in the city of Diyarbakir in southeast Turkey.

They are British reporter Jake Hanrahan and cameraman Philip Pendlebury plus a an unidentified fixer and driver. They were covering the continuing conflict between the Turkish army and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

It appears that security sources initially said the journalists were being held for filming without government accreditation. But they were later accused of supporting Isis.

Amnesty International, PEN International and the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) have all condemned the detentions and demanded the immediate release of all four.

Amnesty called the allegations by Turkish authorities “unsubstantiated, outrageous and bizarre... it is completely proper that journalists should cover this important story.”

PEN International argued that “at a time of heightened tension in the region, it is more important than ever that journalists are allowed to do their vital work without intimidation.”

Zeynep Oral, president of PEN Turkey, said it is becoming increasingly difficult for journalists to work in Turkey, adding: “We are in the greatest need of freedom of expression and the right to know. We ask for justice and the immediate release of journalists doing their jobs.”

Maureen Freely, president of English PEN, noted that the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has “gone to extraordinary lengths in recent years to suppress the media.”

He has “intensified his efforts to crush all critical coverage, but most particularly coverage of the escalating conflicts in the predominantly Kurdish southeast.”

Nina Ognianova, the coordinator of the CPJ’s Europe and central Asia programme, called on the Diyarbakir authorities to release Hanrahan, Pendlebury, and their colleagues.

She said: “The renewed clashes between Turkish security forces and Kurdish separatists in the volatile southeast are of public interest to both domestic and international audiences.”

As a member of the Council of Europe, Turkey is party to both the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

PEN International points out that Turkey is therefore obliged to respect the right to freedom of expression and ensure that journalists are free to gather information without hindrance or threat.

Hanrahan, a freelance writer and documentary maker based in the UK, has written articles for the Guardian and the Independent as well as his work as a reporter and producer for Vice News.

In a tweet the day before his arrest, Hanrahan showed four scenes from Cizre in southeast Turkey, explaining that it was a region where YDG-H - the youth organisation founded by PKK sympathisers - are fighting for self-rule.

Sources: PEN International/Amnesty International/Vice News/CPJ