Journalist Abdulkadir Turay's release postponed for three months

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Dicle News Agency (DİHA) reporter Abdulkadir Turay, arrested in 2016 on charges of "aiding and abetting an illegal organization," is held in the Erzincan L Type Prison.

As his release date approached, he appeared before the administration and observation Board. ''I have been for so long in prison. I don't have any regrets,'' the journalist reportedly responded to the board's decision to extend his captivity with three months.

In the first months of 2016, multiple journalists from DİHA were arrested under suspicion of being members of a terrorist organization. Additionally, the authorities blocked access to DİHA's website multiple times before shutting it down following the 2016 coup attempt.

Turay, at the time, worked as DİHA's correspondent in Savur, a district between Mardin and Batman.

On May 5, 2016, in a house raid, Turay was taken into custody together with Savur Vice Co-Mayor Osman Ok, and Democratic Regions Party (DBP) members Mehmet Sait Tuncer, Şakir Turan, and Yusuf Arat. He was eventually arrested on May 9, 2016, and sentenced by Mardin's 2nd High Court to a nine years prison sentence.

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(EMK/WM)