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Dutch journalist arrested in Turkey for criticising Erdoğan Dutch journalist arrested in Turkey for criticising Erdoğan
(about 5 hours later)
A Dutch journalist was arrested early on Sunday at her home in Turkey for tweets deemed critical of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, according to her Twitter account. A Dutch journalist was blocked from leaving Turkey on Sunday following her arrest on Saturday night for tweets deemed critical of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
“Police at the door. No joke,” wrote Ebru Umar, a well-known atheist and feminist journalist of Turkish origin. “Police at the door. No joke,” wrote Ebru Umar, a well-known atheist and feminist journalist of Turkish origin wrote on her Twitter account.
Oké. Politie voor de deur timeline. Geen grap.Oké. Politie voor de deur timeline. Geen grap.
Umar recently wrote a piece critical of Erdoğan for the Dutch daily Metro, extracts of which she then tweeted, leading to her arrest. Umar recently wrote a piece critical of Erdoğan for the Dutch daily Metro, extracts of which she then tweeted, leading to her arrest. After her arrest in the resort town of Kusadasi in western Turkey, where she was on holiday, Dutch officials said, she was brought before a judge.
“I’m not free, we’re going to the hospital” for a medical examination before being taken to face prosecutors, she said in a second tweet as she left her home in Kușadası, a resort town in western Turkey. She later said she was “free but forbidden to leave the country”.
Dutch blog Geenstijl said it had received a message from Umar saying that she was arrested after someone reported her tweets on a hotline set up by Turkish officials.
Related: Merkel lets comedian face prosecution for Erdoğan poemRelated: Merkel lets comedian face prosecution for Erdoğan poem
The Dutch foreign ministry said in a tweet that it was in close contact with Umar and local authorities, and that the Dutch embassy in Istanbul was “actively engaged” in the case.
Umar, who reportedly became a journalist under the influence of Theo van Gogh – a Dutch film-maker later murdered for making a controversial film about Islamic culture – had written in the Metro about a diplomatic spat between Turkey and the Netherlands.
A political storm erupted this week over reports that the Turkish consulate asked Turkish organisations in the Netherlands to forward emails and social media posts which insult Erdoğan or Turkey.A political storm erupted this week over reports that the Turkish consulate asked Turkish organisations in the Netherlands to forward emails and social media posts which insult Erdoğan or Turkey.
The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, said he would ask Ankara to clarify the call, saying it was not clear what the Turkish government aimed to achieve. The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, said he would ask Ankara to clarify the call, saying it was not clear what the Turkish government aimed to achieve. The Turkish consulate for its part said the note was sent by a consular official who used an “unfortunate choice of words” that was misinterpreted.
The Turkish consulate for its part said the note was sent by a consular official who used an “unfortunate choice of words” that was misinterpreted. Umar had written about the row in her article. She compared the consulate’s call to “NSB practices”, a reference to the Dutch branch of the Nazi party before and during the second world war.
The case followed outrage in Germany after the government there gave a green light for authorities to begin criminal proceedings against popular comic Jan Böhmermann for performing a satirical poem about Erdoğan. Umar’s Twitter feed showed she had recently engaged in spirited exchanges with her critics and reposted a tweet from someone claiming to have reported her to the police.
Trials in Turkey for insulting Erdoğan have multiplied since his election to the presidency in August 2014, with nearly 2,000 such cases currently open. Insulting the president is a crime in Turkey punishable by up to four years in jail, but the law has been invoked rarely. Since Edoğan became president in 2014, prosecutors have opened more than 1,800 cases against people for insulting him, the justice minister said last month.
Rutte said in a tweet that he “had had contact with @umarebru last night. Our embassy is in close contact with her for assistance”.
The Dutch education minister, Jet Bussemaker, told Dutch WNL television “it is absurd that you can be arrested for a tweet”.
Born in The Hague to Turkish parents, Umar has been an outspoken critic of militant Islam, first in columns for the website of Theo van Gogh, who was murdered by a radical Islamist in 2004 after making films critical of the religion.
Her case follows outrage in Germany after the government there gave a green light for authorities to begin criminal proceedings against popular comic Jan Böhmermann for performing a satirical poem about Erdoğan.
Last year, Turkey deported another Dutch journalist after she was arrested on suspicion of aiding Kurdish militants. Frederike Geerdink was detained in September 2015 during clashes between PKK rebels and Turkish security forces.
It was the second time she had been taken into custody: in April, Geerdink was put on trial on charges of spreading “terrorist propaganda” for the PKK but was then acquitted.
“Thinking of dutch columnist @umarebru, now locked up in a kusadasi police station. Utter disgrace,” she tweeted.
Earlier this week, a German reporter was detained at an Istanbul airport and sent back to Cairo where he is based. A day later, authorities denied entry into Turkey for Russian news agency Sputnik’s Istanbul-based general manager.