Three journalists, working for Russian News Agency Sputnik’s Turkey Branch, as well as Sputnik Turkey’s Editor-In-Chief Mahir Boztepe were detained due to the news published on Sputnik International with the headline, “The ‘Stolen Province’: Why Turkey Was Given A Corner Of Syria By France 80 Years Ago.” The journalists, charged with “denigrating the Turkish government” (in accordance with Turkish Criminal Code Article 301) and “disrupting the unity and the territorial integrity of the state” (in accordance with Turkish Criminal Code Article 302) were released after testifying.
The three journalists were detained in Ankara and their homes were previously attacked by an unidentified group. The attackers had chanted the slogan, “Martyrs never die, homeland never divides,” threatening and insulting the journalists. The journalists went to the security office to make criminal complaints against the attackers; ending up being detained themselves.
02.03.2020
bianet.org