A TURKISH court ordered the release today of four journalists who, along with a fifth who was not under arrest, were on trial for reporting state violence against Kurds in Van.
Adnan Bilen, Nazan Sala, Sehriban Abi, Cemil Uyur and Zeynep Durgut were accused of “reporting on social events against the state.” Some were also accused of being members of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). All except Ms Durgut had been detained for the last six months.
The journalists had reported on the abduction and torture by security forces of Servet Turgut and Osman Siban from Catak in Van. The pair were thrown from a helicopter on September 11 last year. Mr Turgut later died from his injuries.
VIJAY PRASHAD details how US support for Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa allowed him to break the resistance of the autonomous Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)
Groups are urging the US government to secure the 16-year old’s release as his mental and physical health decline dramatically after nine months inside Ofer prison, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER


