Journalist Deniz Yücel freed

The release has been announced of Die Welt reporter Deniz Yücel, who has been imprisoned in Turkey since 14 February 2017. German newspaper Die Welt announced the release of its reporter Deniz Yücel, who had been in detention for a year, as follows: “Finally! Welt reporter Deniz Yücel, who has been detained in Turkey for more than a year, is free. His lawyer Veysel Ok has supplied this information.”

 FIRST PHOTO OF FREEDOM

Following Deniz Yücel's release, his wife Dilek Mayatürk Yücel greeted him with flowers in front of the prison. The two assuaged their longing in an embrace. Deniz Yücel's lawyer Veysel Ok posted Deniz Yücel joining up with his wife Dilek Yücel following his release on his Twitter account under the hashtag “#FreeDeniz & #FreeDilek”.

Deniz Yücel, Turkish representative of German Die Welt newspaper who has been released after around one year from Silivri Prison where he was in detention, was filmed entering his home in Beyoğlu. Yücel, who stayed at home for around 45 minutes, left from here accompanied by his wife.

Deniz Yücel and his wife Dilek Mayatürk Yücel came to his home in the evening. Yücel responded to journalists’ questions saying he would not make a statement. Dilek Mayatürk Yücel was seen to be holding parsley, about which there is a remarkable story.

 STAYED AT HOME FOR 45 MINUTES

 Deniz Yücel, who stayed at home for about 45 minutes, got into a consular car along with his wife and left from her. Yücel made no statement on leaving his home.

 DENİZ YÜCEL WENT TO GERMANY BY PRIVATE PLANE

 Deniz Yücel, Turkish representative of German Die Welt newspaper who has been released after around one year from Silivri Prison where he was in detention, went to Germany along with his wife in a private plane.

 GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTRY: WE MADE NO NEGOTIATIONS

 The German Foreign Ministry has also confirmed that German newspaper Die Welt reporter Deniz Yücel had been freed. According to a report by Die Welt, the German Foreign Ministry claimed that no “agreement” had been made with Turkey over Deniz Yücel's release. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel also said that no condition had been imposed on Deniz Yücel's release and commented, “We believe he will be permitted to leave the country.”

 German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel had given the message in statement he made a while back to Der Spiegel magazine that if Yücel was freed the green light might be given for arms exports Turkey was awaiting.

 DETAILS OF THE INDICTMENT AGAINST DENİZ YÜCEL

 The indictment against Deniz Yücel has been drafted. Yücel's imprisonment for between four and eighteen years was sought on the counts of “making a terrorist organisation’s propaganda” and “inciting the people to hatred and enmity.”

 Turkish representative of German Die Welt newspaper, Deniz Yücel, was freed in conjunction with the drafting of the indictment against him. Yücel's imprisonment for between four and eighteen years was sought in the indictment.

 It was alleged in the indictment as drafted that Yücel, through making the FETO and PKK terrorist organisations’ propaganda, openly incited one section of the people to hatred and enmity against another section. Yücel's imprisonment for between four and eighteen years was sought in the indictment.

 In the indictment drafted by Istanbul Republic Chief Prosecution Terrorism and Organised Crime Office, it was asserted that Deniz Yücel wrote a number of articles that constituted crimes in German for the German press outlet named Die Welt, which publishes in Germany and is thus not covered by the press law according to the laws of the Republic of Turkey.

 THE ARTICLES DEEMED CRIMINAL ARE INCLUDED IN THE INDICTMENT

 It was stated that suspect Yücel used expressions of a praising nature with reference to people who were PKK members in his article of 19 June 2016. It was stressed in the indictment that by means of these expressions Yücel employed discourse for the purpose of glorifying the organisation’s so-called ideology, leader and symbols.

 It was stated in the indictment that in Yücel's article of 18 July 2016, in turn, he made statements aimed at exonerating FETO over the 15 July coup attempt, and it was noted that, in doing so, he committed the crime of making FETO’s propaganda.

 Included in the indictment were claims that Deniz Yücel committed the offence of “inciting the people to hatred and enmity” in comments in one of his articles published on 26 November 2016 and also in another article published on 27 November 2016.

 GÜLEN BOOK FOUND AT HIS HOME

 Included in the indictment is the pronouncement that one book written by Fetullah Gülen was seized in a search made of Yücel's home, while HTS records showed him to have call records between 2014 and 2017 with 59 different people determined to be adjunctive to the PKK terrorist organisation. It was said in the indictment, “It was consequently ascertained that the suspect committed the offences of which he is accused by writing articles conforming to the discourse and ideologies of the FETO and PKK terrorist organisations.”

 “A SUCCESSION OF OFFENCES WAS COMMITTED”

 It was claimed in the indictment that the suspect committed the offence of making terrorist organisation propaganda successively on two occasions, taking account of the date on which his articles were published and the difference between the terrorist organisations to which the discourse referred.

 CHARGES DROPPED OVER CERTAIN OFFENCES

 It was stated in the indictment that an additional decision was made that there were no grounds for prosecution for the offences of “illegally accessing and remaining on IT systems,” “membership of an armed terrorist organisation” and “preventing an IT system from functioning or breaking it” into which investigations against Yücel had been launched.

 IMPRISONMENT FOR UP TO 18 YEARS SOUGHT

 In the indictment, in which it was stated that Yücel “committed the offences successively of propagandising on behalf of the PKK terrorist organisation and the FETO terrorist organisation” and also committed the offence of “publicly inciting the hatred and enmity” of one section of the people against another section, Yücel's imprisonment for between four and eighteen years was sought for these offences.

 Yücel's lawyer Veysel Ok gave news of the release in the message, “And finally the release of my client Deniz Yücel has been ordered.”

 Yücel, who was arrested at the police station where he went of his own accord to make a statement on 14 February 2017, was detained on 27 February on the charges of “inciting the people to hatred and enmity and making terrorist propaganda.”

 Merkel had said, “The Deniz Yücel case is important for us”

 German Chancellor Angela Merkel had said at a press conference held yesterday in Berlin along with Prime-Minister Binali Yıldırım, “The matter of Deniz Yücel is of very great importance. He has been in detention for one year without an indictment having been drafted. I state once more today that this case is of great importance.”

 Erdoğan had said, “For as long as I am in this post”

 Erdoğan replied to a question about Deniz Yücel being returned to Germany on a joint Beyaz TV and TGRT Haber broadcast two days before the referendum: “It will not happen in any way, for as long as I am in this post, never.”

 Deniz Yücel's wife Dilek Yücel said in a post on her Twitter account, “At last! Deniz is free!”

 THE STORY OF THE PARSLEY

 Deniz Yücel greeted his wife with parsley on exiting Silivri. Yücel had told the story of the parsley in an article in Die Welt in which he spoke of his prison life. Here is that section of the article:

 “Also, while giving my weekly orders to the prison grocer, I regularly order herbs: dill that reminds me of trees and parsley that reminds me of Dilek. (On the first holiday we went on, there was so much parsley in our beach bag that Dilek declared them to be our “tree of love”.) I place these plants in cola bottles that I have substituted for plant pots. The warders say nothing as long as there are not too many bunches all at once. It is not forbidden, either, as long as the plants do not take root. They cannot take the dill and parsley business that far, anyway, and I, at least, have not yet managed to prevent them from wilting.”

 Deniz Yücel returns to Germany by private plane

 Deniz Yücel, who was released having completed his procedures at Silivri Prison, came to Atatürk Airport in the evening in a car supplied by the consulate. Yücel, arriving at the area where the General Aviation Terminal is situated, proceeded to the apron in the car. Yücel, who was received here by consular functionaries, returned to Germany at around 21.00 hours in a private plane.

 YÜCEL : I HAVE LEFT BEHIND MY FRIENDS WHO HAVE BEEN DETAINED SIMPLY FOR DOING THEIR JOBS; I HAVE LEFT AHMET ŞIK BEHIND

 Deniz Yücel posted a video he recorded on his social media account. Yücel, making his first statement since being freed, said, “On leaving prison they thrust a paper reading ‘continuation of detention’ into my hand, but I came out.” Yücel’s statement was as follows:

 “Today, while I was coming out of prison, I was given a paper dated 13 February from Penal Judgeship of the Peace No 3 reading ‘continuation of detention.’ But I still came out. Meanwhile, I still don’t know why I came out and why I was detained one year ago. Never mind, it doesn’t matter. In the end, I know that neither my being detained one year ago, more correctly my being taken captive, nor my being released this year bear the slightest relation to the rule of law. Everyone who sees this situation will realise this. Yes, I have gained my freedom, but I have left my cell mate, my colleague Oğuz Uslueri and my friend Ahmet Şık behind. I have left behind my friends who have been detained purely and simply for doing their jobs and simply for being in the opposition. There is a bitterness inside me because of this. But, I’m sure these days will pass. This will not be the end of the story.”

 http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/turkiye/927821/Gazeteci_Deniz_Yucel_tahliye_edildi.html