Turkey detains four journalists for reporting throwing of Kurdish men from army helicopter

Duvar English

Turkish police have detained four journalists in the eastern province of Van for reporting the throwing of two Kurdish men from a military helicopter.

Police on Oct. 6 raided the Van office of the Mesopotamia News Agency and detained Adnan Bilen and Cemil Uğur. They also detained Şehriban Abi and Nazan Sala from JinNews following raids on all four journalists' houses.

While conducting a search in the agency's offices and seizing the cameras, computers and hard disks at the office, police also seized the journalists' cameras and technical equipment from their homes.

The journalists will be barred from seeing their lawyers for 24 hours.

Commenting on the detentions, the agency said that they are linked to the reporting on the throwing of Osman Şiban and Servet Turgut from a military helicopter while under detention in Van's Çatak district.

Both men were detained in an army operation and were subjected to torture in September.

Kurdish man dies after being thrown from military helicopter in Turkey's east

No information could be obtained on their whereabouts for two days following their detention. Their families were then able to locate them at a hospital in Van.

According to hospital records, the two men were brought to the hospital for "getting injured after falling from a helicopter."

Epicrisis reports of Şiban and Turgut also featured the phrase "falling from a high place."

While Şiban suffers from memory loss, Turgut died on Sept. 30 after spending 20 days in coma.

Turgut's son had said that all the bones in his father's body were broken.

Following public outrage over the incident, a broadcast ban was placed on the reports on the issue.

Hospital reports prove two men detained in Turkey's east were thrown from military helicopter