Turkey: Two Vice News Journalists Arrested for Using Encryption Software – Two Journalists and Their Assistant Arrested in Diyarbakir
Turkish officials have pulled off yet another fiasco, arresting two Vice News journalists and their assistant for alleged “terrorist activities,” which were related to the use of an encryption on their laptops for their Internet communications.
The two journalists are of British origin, Jake Hanrahan and Philip Pendlebury, while their assistant, who also acts as an Iraqi translator, is Mohammed Ismael Rasool.
All three were arrested last Thursday in Diyarbakir, a city in southeastern Turkey, near the Iraqi border and in a region where the Kurdish people hold the majority.
The three were charged on Monday with “participation in terrorist activities” and will soon be transferred to Adana, a city 500 kilometers/310 miles away from Diyarbakir, where they are supposed to be on trial, and where their legal representation is also located.
After many protests from media outlets around the world and human rights organizations, the two British journalists were released today, but are banned from leaving Turkey until their trial.
There is no information on what kind of encryption software they have used, but Turkish authorities have told international journalists that the same tools are also used by ISIL terrorists operating in the region. Most bets are that the journalists are using Tor or PGP.
Turkey borders Syria, but has always refused to get involved in the conflict due to fears that ISIL will cross the border and help the Kurds in the South-Eastern region of the country to grow and fight for their independence.
