A journalist from the Turkish opposition newspaper Birgün was arrested last Saturday night for “spreading misleading information”, it was reported.
Journalist Ismail Ari, who was arrested in the northern province of Tokat where he had travelled to Ayd al-Fitr, was taken to Ankara this morning for questioning, Birgün reported.
“Ismail never lied to the people,” the Istanbul-based leftist newspaper known for its investigative reporting on the Turkish government wrote in X, without specifying the articles for which its journalist was arrested.
“We repeat: journalism is not a crime. Ismail Ari must be released immediately,” the Turkish Journalists’ Union stressed to X.
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In late February, a Turkish journalist for German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) was arrested and detained for “insulting the president”, despite protests from German authorities and journalists’ associations.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which denounces the “suppression of the right to information” in Turkey, places the country 159th out of 180 in the press freedom ranking, between Pakistan and Venezuela.
