New York, October 12, 2016 — The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today’s release of Lindsey Snell, a U.S. freelance journalist who Turkish security forces detained on August 7 as she crossed into the country from Syria. CPJ confirmed her release with Snell’s lawyers.
The journalist spent two months in prison in Turkey’s southern Hatay Province on the accusation of having illegally entered a military zone. On August 22, Turkish police raided Snell’s rented apartment in Istanbul and confiscated computers, video camera, and other electronic equipment, CPJ reported.
“Lindsey Snell’s release is a relief, but scores of journalists are still jailed in Turkey,” CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said. “We call on Turkish authorities to return Snell’s confiscated equipment, and to free all the journalists still behind bars in the country for doing their jobs.”
Since declaring a state of emergency in late July, the government has closed down more than 100 broadcasters, newspapers, magazines, publishers, and distribution companies; and detained more than 100 journalists.