Ilyas Akengin / AFP / Getty Images
Four people working for VICE News who were detained by Turkish authorities on Thursday while covering political clashes with police are set to face terrorism charges, the media company said Sunday.
The four were detained by anti-terrorism police Thursday in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir. The journalists' rooms were searched and their camera equipment was seized by Turkish authorities after they filmed clashes between police and supporters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party.
Amnesty International and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) had originally said that three reporters had been arrested. However, a VICE spokesperson told BuzzFeed News in a statement Sunday that four of its staff had been detained, but did not identify those arrested.
"They are due in court [on Monday] where they face unsubstantiated charges of terrorism," the spokesperson said.
"VICE News continues to work vigorously with all relevant authorities to secure the safe release of our four colleagues"
Two of the reporters were identified by Amnesty and the CPJ as Jake Hanrahan and Philip Pendlebury, British journalists who traveled to Turkey to cover the clashes. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said a third person detained was their fixer -- a journalist in the region who assists in putting reporters in contact with sources and navigating the area.
"This is yet another example of the Turkish authorities suppressing the reporting of stories that are embarrassing to them," Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International's Turkey researcher said in a statement. "They should release the journalists immediately."
The CPJ also called for the reporters to be released and allowed to continue their work reporting on the clashes.
"The renewed clashes between Turkish security forces and Kurdish separatists in the volatile southeast are of public interest to both domestic and international audiences," Nina Ognianova, CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator, said in the statement.
Three days ago, Hanrahan tweeted images from the region. His last tweet was posted Thursday.
According to police sources who spoke to Amnesty, the journalists were being detained on suspicion of assisting terrorists.
The Kurdistan Workers' Party has been classified as a terrorist organization by Turkish authorities. Journalists who have been in contact with the group while covering clashes with the government have been imprisoned or obstructed from doing their work, according to the CPJ statement.
Amnesty International asked that authorities either "demonstrate credible evidence of criminal acts" or release the reporters.
"Turkey has a dismal record of abusing anti-terror laws in order to suppress dissent, frequently targeting journalists," the Amnesty statement read.
Turkey and Kurdish militants in the region maintained a ceasefire for more than two years until July, when separatists shot and killed 18 police officers.
"It is completely proper that that journalists should cover this important story," Gardner said. "The decision to detain the journalists was wrong, while the allegation of assisting Islamic state is unsubstantiated, outrageous and bizarre."
Shane Smith, owner and founder of VICE, tweeted Saturday, calling for his employees' release:
SOURCE: BuzzFeed
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