Two prominent Turkish journalists from a leading opposition newspaper have been freed in the early hours of Friday after Turkey‘s top court ruled that their detentions had violated their rights.
A large group of supporters greeted Cumhuriyet newspaper’s editor-in-chief Can Dündar and the paper’s Ankara representative, Erdem Gül, as they emerged from a van after being freed from Silivri prison on the outskirts of İstanbul.
The arrest of journalists last November drew international condemnation and revived concern about media freedom in Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
They were detained after the publication of video footage purporting to show the state intelligence agency helping send weapons to Syria.
“We think the Constitutional Court’s ruling is a historic one,” Dündar told reporters outside the prison, next to their friends and families. “This verdict has cleared the way not only for us but for all of our colleagues and freedom of press and expression,” he said. He also said his release on Friday would be “a present” on Erdoğan’s 62nd birthday.
The two were charged with intentionally aiding an armed terrorist organization and publishing material in violation of state security. Cumhuriyet published photos, videos and a report last May that it said showed intelligence officials transporting arms to Syria in trucks in 2014.
Dündar also said the Wait for Hope vigil in front of Silivri Prison where he was held — which initially was started to show solidarity with him, Gül and other imprisoned journalists — should be continued, and that they would follow the fight of their imprisoned colleagues until the end. Saying that their case is about freedom of the press, Dündar vowed to fight for humanity, for press freedom and for freedom of expression until the Silivri Prison “turns into a museum,” as it is the prison where most of Turkey’s imprisoned journalists are kept.