A prosecutor in Istanbul has remanded eight journalists in custody, reversing a decision to release them after they were arrested for covering Turkey’s largest anti-government protests in years.
The journalists were among 10 arrested in dawn raids on their homes earlier this week. An Istanbul court initially ruled the journalists should be released before reversing the decision and issuing an official arrest order, according to their lawyers and representatives.
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They were held after photographing mass anti-government demonstrations that have swept Turkey for the first time in years, prompted by the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu last week.
They were all charged with “taking part in illegal rallies and marches and failing to disperse despite warnings”, court documents showed. The court decision was slammed as “scandalous” by Reporters Without Borders, with the Turkish Photojournalists Union denouncing it as “unlawful, unconscionable and unacceptable”.