Detained Syrian journalist freed without charges in Turkey

ANKARA – The Associated Press

A Syrian journalist detained in Turkey while applying for a residence permit says he has been freed.      

In a message posted on Facebook on Feb. 20, Rami Jarrah said Turkish authorities released him without charges. He said he had not been given an explanation for his detainment on Feb. 17, but said it might be related to his crossing into Syria.    
      
The journalist said he was held in a detention center together with people suspected of “being terrorist elements.”    

The Committee to Protect Journalists had called on Turkey to release him, saying journalists like Jarrah needed protection rather than being “subjected to detention and harassment.”

Jarrah fled Syria with his wife and child in 2011, fearing that his role in reporting on the conflict for international outlets had put him in danger, according to the New York Times. While still in Syria, the journalist who was raised in the U.K. contributed reporting to international outlets including CNN, Al Jazeera, and NPR. After leaving Syria, he co-founded the independent citizen journalist group ANA Press, which provides footage and reports to international outlets including the New York Times, Huffington Post, and others, and continued to travel to his home country to report on the conflict.