Zeynep AzizGerman-Turkish journalist Deniz Yücel was released from detention in Istanbul on 16 February 2018 after spending approximately one year in custody without a completed indictment.
Yücel, a correspondent for the German newspaper Die Welt, had been accused of propaganda for a terrorist organisation and inciting hatred—allegations he denied. On the day of his release, a court accepted an indictment seeking a sentence of up to eighteen years and ordered that he be tried without remaining in prison.
The case had become a major obstacle in relations between Turkey and Germany. German officials repeatedly pressed for due process and his release, while Ankara insisted that the judiciary operated independently. Yücel left Turkey after being freed.
Press-freedom organisations welcomed his release but stressed that other journalists remained imprisoned and that the charges against him had not disappeared. The same day, four other Turkish journalists received life sentences in a separate case, underscoring the contradictory picture facing the media.
Yücel’s release eased one prominent diplomatic dispute, but it did not resolve wider concerns over prolonged pre-trial detention, expansive terrorism accusations and the condition of independent journalism under emergency rule.
