Journalist Depardon Deported After 1 Month in Detention

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Mathias Depardon, a journalist from France was deported to France today (June 9) after being kept one month in detention in a removal center in Antep province.

President of France Emmanuel Macron has posted on Twitter that Depardon might arrive in France this evening.

Reporters without Borders (RSF) has also announced that the journalist was put in an airplane in Antep and sent to Paris.

Je suis très heureux de vous annoncer le retour en France dès ce soir de notre compatriote photojournaliste @mathiasdepardon.

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) 9 Haziran 2017

Reporters without Borders (RSF) has also announced that the journalist was put in an airplane in Antep and sent to Paris.

RSF temsilcisi E.Önderoğlu, gazeteci #MathiasDepardon'u 1 aydır alıkonduğu Antep'te ziyaret eden annesi Claude Van de Lanotte ile görüştü pic.twitter.com/jXyI5WdvEC

— RSF Türkçe (@RSF_tr) 9 Haziran 2017

What happened?

Depardon had been taken into custody on May 8 in Hasankeyf district of Batman province while doing a report on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers for National Geographic magazine.

Though his planned deportation was on May 11, Depardon is still being kept in a removal center in Oğuzeli district of Antep province and being charged with "propagandizing for an illegal organization" due to some photographs he had posted on Instagram.

37 year-old Depardon has been based in Turkey for the past five years and is in the process of renewing his press card.

On May 25, President of France Emmanuel Macron in a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Brussels had demanded that the situation of the journalist be examined and Erdoğan stated that they would respond to the demand as soon as possible.

RSF also organized a demonstration in front of the Minicipality of 4th District in Paris on June 7 demanding the release of Depardon.

RSF Secretary General Christophe Deloire stated that the detention was "not rightfull not legitimate" and described the situation as "an institutional hostage holding". (AS/DG)