Director, cameraman briefly detained over ‘Demirtaş shirts’

On their journey from Diyarbakır to İstanbul, director Ömer Leventoğlu and cameraman Hüseyin Altürk were briefly detained by police yesterday.

The detention occurred on the Sakarya-Kocaeli highway around 6.00 pm, causing concern among their colleagues as the two could not be reached for the subsequent six hours, according to reports from Mezopotamya Agency (MA).

Later, the lawyers representing Leventoğlu and Altürk contacted the Kocaeli and Sakarya Police Departments, only to be informed that their clients were not in custody. Later, it was discovered that both were held at the Kocaeli Police Department.

Leventoğlu and Altürk reported that their detainment was due to the possession of four t-shirts bearing the image of the imprisoned Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş, former co-leader of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). The t-shirts were confiscated, and following the completion of police procedures, the two men were released. (AS/VK)