Posted on 02/08/2017 8:00:32 AM PST by Texas Fossil
A warrant for the arrest of Kurdish journalist, Maxime Azadi, in Brussels which was issued by Interpol on Turkey’s request at the end of last year (December 15), sparked strong reactions in the media and the organisations which defend freedom of the media and freedom of expression. Also, a concern has appeared regarding the spread of conflicts with journalist in Turkey onto Europe.
The journalist was arrested under the accusation of collaborating with a terrorist organisation and he was conditionally released a few days later. Azadi has been working in Brussels since the year 2000 and he writes for the pro-Kurdish news agency Firat News (ANF), forbidden in Turkey for “security reasons”. He also writes for a French media organisation and he founded the Kurdish news portal Actucurde.
In order to get more details on this case of the journalist and find out what stage the process led against him is in, we contacted Maxime Azadi. For Fairpress, Azadi pointed out that they’re still waiting
I have to report to the police every Monday, and the threat of extradition to Turkey still hang over me, even though that seems impossible because of the complexity of such a procedure. I still don’t know what accusations have been stated against me, but I know that the reason is my journalistic work, especially my articles published as part of the Firat News agency, which I have been the editor of since 2005, Maxime Azadi for Fairpress.
The European and the International Federation of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ), expressed their concern, emphasising that this arrest poses a threat to the security of Kurdish and Turkish journalists exiled in Europe”.
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