Two Turkish journalists Can Dundar and Erdem Gul, who were charged with
revealing state secrets have been freed from prison. The duo who
worked for the newspaper Cumhuriyet, were detained in November over a
report alleging that the Turkish government tried to ship arms to
Islamists in Syria. Both journalist had been jailed at Silivri jail on
the outskirts of Istanbul.
The Turkey's constitutional court challenged the charges, saying they
violated freedom of the press, they won the case and were both released
early on Friday after three months in jail.
Large crowds chanting support met them outside prison on their release.
Mr Dundar, the paper's editor-in-chief, and Mr Gul, its Ankara bureau
chief, spent 92 days in prison and had been due to go on trial on 25
March. He said:
"This is a trial of press freedom," Mr Dundar said. "We got out but more
than 30 colleagues are still in prison. I hope that this ruling will
pave way for their freedom as well."
"We would continue to fight for press freedom until this concentration camp that you see behind me becomes a museum".
The court, which ruled on Thursday agreed that their "rights to personal
liberty and security had been violated and that the decision was
overwhelmingly approved with 12 votes for and three against, Turkish
media reports said.
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