Two Rûdaw Journalists’ Detention Periods Extended

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Since Turkey announced that it would no longer stop refugees from trying to reach Europe, several refugees have been heading for borders.

Rûdaw reporter Rawin Sterk and cameraperson Mehmet Şirin Akgün were among the journalists who went to the district of Pazarkule in Edirne province bordering Greece to report on the situation of refugees.

Sterk and Akgün were detained during news follow-up on February 29. They have been held in custody since then.

Gürsel Demir, the attorney of journalists, has spoken to bianet and stated that the journalists were taken into custody "because they entered a first-degree military forbidden zone." The detention periods of journalists have been extended, the attorney has told us further.

Demir has also said that Rawin Sterk was sent to Ankara last evening (March 3) in relation with a case file on Kurdistan Workers Party/Kurdish Communities Union (PKK/KCK) from the year 2008. "Şirin Akgün is still held in Edirne Provincial Gendarmerie Command", Demir has said.

'Other journalists released, my clients still detained'

Reminding us that all journalists detained while following up news in the region have been released, Demir has stated the following:

"They were brought to the Penal Judgeship of Peace regarding their arrest and gave their depositions yesterday. The Penal Judgeship of Peace has extended their periods of arrest for another two days.

"In the meanwhile, upon an instruction from Ankara, the detention period of Rawin has been extended for four days and he was taken to Ankara last evening. He had a case file from the year 2008.

"Now, they need to give two separate judgements for Rawin and Mehmet Şirin. The detention period specified for Mehmet Şirin will expire tomorrow. If no judgement is given, he needs to be released.

"From a legal perspective, these persons are journalists. They have an assignment letter from the organization they work for. It is apparent that they were sent there by Rûdaw. They have nothing to do with terror. They were detained because they were in a forbidden zone. They did not enter the zone knowingly or willingly. They entered the zone with the migrants that they were following. Besides, there was no sign indicating that it was a forbidden zone. There were also police and gendarmerie officers, refugees and other journalists with them. But, they were detained in the end.

"They have released all journalists who were taken into custody during news follow-up in the region, but they are still detaining my clients because they have other files. I want my clients to be released." (HA/SD)