No News Received From Syrian Journalist Taken Into Custody in Antep

Click here to read the article in Turkish / Haberin Türkçesi için buraya tıklayın. 

No news can be received from the Syrian journalist Rami Jarrah who has been taken into custody while applying for residence permit in Antep. Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has made a call on the authorities in Turkey to release Jarrah.

The information obtained by bianet implicates that Jarrah who had been taken into custody while making an application to renew his residence permit on February 17, Wednesday can not be reached. According to the information provided by the journalist’s attorney Orçun Çetinkaya, Jarrah has first been taken to the “guest house”. Yet the contact has later been lost with the journalist. Jarrah does neither possess a cell phone.

Call from CPJ

New York based CPJ had also made a call on the Government of Turkey regarding Jarrah. Noting that the journalist had been interrogated while under custody due to his reports, CPJ has demanded releasing the journalist immediately.

CPJ Europe and Central Asia Programme Coordinator Nina Ognianova had made the statement “Jarrah should be released immediately and be allowed to work in Turkey without fear of obstruction”.

Left Syria in 2011

Jarrah, known for his independent reportings on the war in Syria,  had left the country with his family in 2011. As he was in Syria, he had been making news to media institutions such as CNN, Al Jazeera and NPR. After leaving Syria he had co-founded the independent citizen journalist group ANA Press providing international press corporations footage and reports. (EA/DG)

Click here to see the petition initiated to release the journalist.