A group of Pakistani civil society organizations, media rights groups and journalist institutions have joined Reporters Without Borders (RSF) call for release of its representative in Turkey Erol Önderoglu who was placed in pre-trial detention by an Istanbul court on June 20, 2016, with two other intellectuals.
“We, the Pakistani civil society organizations, media rights groups, journalists’ institutions and believer in freedom of press, are demanding from the Turkish government to free Reporters Without Border representative in Turkey since 1996, Erol Önderoglu, who was placed in pre-trial detention by an Istanbul court on June 20, 2016, with two other intellectuals,” these organizations said Monday – June 27, 2016 – in a joint press statement.
Erol Önderoglu, the journalist Ahmet Nesin and the human rights defender Sebnem Korur Fincanci, are charged with “terrorist propaganda” for taking part in a campaign of solidarity with the Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem.
The Pakistani civil society organizations, including Freedom Network, Digital Rights Foundation, Pakistan Press Foundation, Peshawar Press Club, Quetta Press Club, Karachi Press Club, National Press Club, Islamabad, Khyber Union of Journalists, Balochistan Union of Journalists “support Reporters Without Borders’ call for immediate release of Erol unconditionally.”
Reporters Without Borders is an international non-profit organization working for press freedom and journalists’ rights across the globe since 1985 with correspondents and bureaus spread across the world.
Caption: File photo of Erol Önderoglu
Courtesy: www.rsf.org