Turkey Withdraws Arrest Warrant, Journalist Freed in Italy

Seda Aktepe, a Atılım newspaper journalist who was recently arrested in Italy, has been released on Wednesday after the Turkish authorities withdrew their Interpol arrest warrant due to new judicial reforms.

Last week, she was detained by Italy's police authorities due to an Interpol arrest warrant submitted by Turkey. She was later on arrested and sent to Don Bosco Prison in Pisa.

On May 3 Ankara 11th High Criminal Court withdrew its arrest warrant and return order of Seda Aktepe.

In a letter submitted to Foreign Ministry of Italy through Embassy of Turkey to Italy, Justice Ministry alerted Aktepe to be released after the implementation of "Bill on the revision of several laws in the context of human rights and freedom of expression" - a reform that was ratified by President Gül on April 29.

On 10 December 2004 she was arrested for suspicions to be a MLKP member, a leftist organization based in Turkey. On 25 June 2005 Aktepe was released pending a trial.

Later on, an Ankara court found her guilty of "committing an organized crime while not being an organization member", ordering her to serve 3 years and 1 month of prison. In the meanwhile, Aktepe flew to Italy. Aktepe had previously asked for asylum as she would reportedly be deported to Turkey. (BK/HK/BM)