Ebru Umar,
a columnist for the Dutch "Metro" newspaper, says she has been
detained for publishing tweets critical of the Turkish president. This comes
after a diplomatic spat between Turkey and the Netherlands.
Deutsche Welle, 24 April 2016
The
detention occurred at Umar's home in the western Turkish resort town of
Kusadasi late Saturday, according to a post on the journalist's Twitter
account.
"Police
at the door. No joke," she wrote.
Oké. Politie voor de deur timeline. Geen grap.— Ebru Umar (@umarebru) April 23, 2016
In a second
tweet, she said, "I'm not free, we're going to hospital" for a
medical examination before being interrogated by prosecutors.
Umar, who
is a well-known atheist and feminist of Turkish origin, had written an article
in the "Metro" about a recent diplomatic row between Turkey and the
Netherlands, later tweeting extracts critical of Erdogan that led to her
arrest.
The Dutch
foreign ministry said in a tweet that it was in "close contact with"
Umar and "local authorities."
In The
Hague, Foreign Ministry spokesman Herman van Gelderen confirmed Umar had been
detained but had few further details.
"We
are aware of it, we are in contact and we're following the case very
closely," he told the Associated Press news agency.
Since
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was elected to the post in August 2014,
authorities have launched nearly 2,000 lawsuits against people accused of
insulting the politician.
One such
case is in Germany, where the government has given the green light to authorities to begin criminal proceedings against satirist Jan Böhmermann under
a decades-old lese-majeste law that many say should have long since been
abolished.
Erdogan's
apparent sensitivity to all criticism of his person or politics also seems
evident in the affair about which Umar wrote in her report, which involved
claims that the Turkish consulate had asked Turkish organizations in the
Netherlands to forward social media posts and emails deemed insulting to
Erdogan or Turkey itself.
Dutch Prime
Minister Mark Rutte said he would ask Ankara to clarify the call, saying it was
unclear what purpose the Turkish government hoped to achieve.
The Turkish
consulate has said that the email in question had been sent by a consular
official who had used an "unfortunate choice of words."
The Netherlands
has a similar law on insulting representatives of foreign states to that in
Germany, but Dutch Justice Minister Ard van der Steur told lawmakers on
Wednesday that he wanted to jettison it.
Umar's
detention came as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top EU officials were in
Turkey to bolster an agreement that aims to slow down the flow of migrants to
Europe. The EU leaders have been criticized for failing to speak out against
the increasing lack of freedom of speech in the country for fear of damaging
the controversial deal.
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