Two Germans in Custody in Van

Sociologist Martin Dolzer and Martin Glasenapp were taken into police custody on Tuesday evening (20 September). The German citizens are part of a delegation of 41 people who travelled from Germany to the Kurdish-majority city of Van in south-eastern Turkey. The delegation came to investigate a mass grave that supposedly contained the body of German sociologist Andrea Wolf.

The Fırat News Agency (ANF) reported that the delegation was not allowed to enter the area of the mass grave in which the bodies of 32 people were buried. Human rights activists from Switzerland, Germany and El Salvador were part of the delegation.

There upon, the delegation released a press release and sharply criticized the Governor of Van, Münir Karaloğlu, who refused to issue the necessary permission.

Police teams entered the hotel of the international delegation on the evening of 20 September. Upon the order of the prosecution, sociologists Dolzer and Glasenapp were taken into police custody under allegations of having spread "propaganda for a terrorist organization". (EKN/VK)