Detained Journalist From Italy Released, Deported

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Gabriele Del Grande, a journalist from Italy who had been in custody since April 9 and went on a hunger strike on April 19, was released.
Angelino Alfano, Minister of Interior of Italy announced today (April 24) on his social media account that the journalist was released after being kept in custody for 14 days in Muğla Removal Center.

Alfano on his Twitter account said: "Gabriele Del Grande is free, I have spoken with him just now, he is returning to Italy. I was glad to tell the news to his family. We are waiting for him. My colleague Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu informed me about the decision this night. I thank him".

Talking at the Rainews24, an Italian news channel, Alfano said: "We have spent the night working on that issue. We have worked on this silently using all our diplomatic channels to have him released, and it worked well. I am very glad about it. I thank everyone who has worked for making Gabriele a free man".

What happened?

35 year-old Gabriele Del Grande, known for his studies on refugees, had went to Turkey's Syrian border on April 7 to make research for his new book on how the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was formed. He was detained on April 9, two days after his arrival.
The journalist went on a hunger strike on April 19.

Angelino Alfano, Minister of Interior of Italy had demanded that Del Grande be released.

Del Grande, who had visited Turkey several times in the last months for a book project, is known for his studies on the migration crisis in the Mediterranean region and publishes his works on "Fortress Europe" blog site. His articles are also being published on "die Tageszeitung", a newspaper in Germany. (YY/DG)