A Turkish Official, speaking on condition of anonymity, has confirmed that two Vice News who were journalists arrested a week ago have been released from jail, according to The New York Times. Their assistant, however, is still being held.
Jake Hanrahan and Philip Pendlebury were arrested last week for filming Kurdish youths clashing with Turkish security forces in the predominantly Kurdish region of Turkey, in the city of Diyarbakir. They were arrested on terror-related charges, FOX News reported.
The British journalists were charged with "working on behalf of a terrorist organization" and questioned over alleged links to Islamic State and Kurdish militants, according to BBC News.
Their translator, Iraqi Mohammed Ismael Rasool, had an appeal for his release rejected citing material on his computer was still being investigated. "We are planning to appeal to this decision as well, most probably next week," said Ahmet Ay, Rasool's lawyer. "We think all the three journalists' actions were within the frame of journalism."
"Rasool is an experienced journalist and translator who has worked extensively across the Middle East with Vice News, Associated Press and Al Jazeera," Vice News said in a statement, according to Al Jazeera.
Vice News also condemned the Turkish government in a statement released on Thursday over the detention and arrest of Hanrahan, Pendlebury and Rasool.
Wigan (a town in Greater Manchester, England) called upon the community on Wednesday to saturate social media with #freevicenewsstaff in an effort to put social pressure on the Turkish government to release the three journalists, as previously reported by HNGN.
With no court date set for the first hearing, the trial is expected to continue in the journalists' absence.
