Syrian journalist Rami Jarrah was released on the early hours of Saturday morning, after four days in detention by Turkish authorities. Over 12,000 people signed the petition for his release. Here is a message from him, thanking for the support and explaining the situation.
“Thank you to each and every one of you. I really don’t know what to say. If it hadn’t been for all of your support I would still be behind bars today.
I still don’t know why I was arrested or what my charges were. I am relieved to be free but I have to mention that there are many others in the same situation I was in. I met fellow detainees held without charge for much longer periods of time than I was. There were some detainees that had been there up to nine months after being declared innocent by a court of law.
I wish that every detainee has the same army of advocates as I had pushing for their release. It’s clear that when people act collectively and make noise, lives can be changed.
Even though I was not officially told my charges, I understand that it had to do with crossing into Syria and coming back. I crossed into Syria to report on the Russian bombing of civilians and to show how people in Aleppo widely rejected Isis yet were being bombed under the auspices of being Isis terrorists. There are hardly any reporters on the ground in Syria even though it is in the midst of the world’s greatest humanitarian catastrophe and there is something akin to a world war being fought on Syrian soil.
The country is victim to censorship as well as a loss of appetite for its repetitive stories of violence. It is important that journalists cover this conflict. They should be able to do it carefully and intelligently and this means being able to focus on the story rather than worry about being arbitrarily detained.
Journalists need freedom of movement. We need to be able to tell the truth about what is going on in Syria.
Thank you again to everyone for your support and for taking action to ensure my release”.
