- AFP Director General and Chairman Fabrice Fries called the jail sentence “unacceptable.”
Istanbul: A Turkish court on Thursday freed AFP photographer Yasin Akgul, who was detained for covering mass protests sweeping the country, his lawyer said.
Akgul, 35, was one of seven Turkish journalists arrested this week after days of covering mass protests that erupted on March 19, when Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a key political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was arrested.
Akgul and his colleagues were arrested at their home before dawn and charged with “participating in illegal rallies and marches, as well as failing to disperse a rally despite warnings,” court documents say.
Türkiye ranks 158th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2024 World Press Freedom Index.
AFP Director General and Chairman Fabrice Fries called the jail sentence “unacceptable.”
He stressed that Akgul “did not participate in the protest,” but was only covering it as a journalist, and he should be released as soon as possible.
