Award-winning Turkish journalist briefly detained over news report

ISTANBUL

An award-winning journalist was briefly detained on April 15 in a case stemming from one of her recent reports that allegedly “slandered” someone, according to Turkish media.

Zeynep Kuray, a journalist at daily BirGün, was visiting her father in Ankara’s Sincan Prison together with her sister and Revolutionary People’s Party (DHP) chairman Celal Özcan when she was detained.

BirGün reported that the detention was related to a case in which Kuray was accused of “slandering” in a news story investigating the Yüksekova district in southeastern Turkey. 

A Yüksekova court ordered police to bring Kuray to the hearing by force, as she had not testified at the case. The report on her arrest in BirGün did not elaborate on the details, but she was released shortly afterwards.

Kuray won the Turkish Journalists Association’s Press Freedom Award and Italy’s Ilaria Alpi Award last year after she spent time in jail. She was among the several journalists arrested for being a member of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) and its press committee in 2011. She was released on April 26, 2013.