DIYARBAKIR, Turkey – A Turkish court has acquitted a Dutch journalist of charges of engaging in propaganda on behalf of the banned Kurdish rebel group.
Freelance journalist Frederike Geerdink was briefly detained in January and then accused of making "propaganda for a terrorist organization" in a series of social media postings.
A court in the mainly Kurdish-populated city of Diyarbakir acquitted her of the charge in the second hearing on Monday. She faced a maximum five years in prison if convicted.
Geerdink, who is based in Diyarbakir, reports mainly on Kurdish issues for Dutch and Turkish media. Her prosecution has been widely criticized by media advocacy groups.
Several journalists, including foreigners, were tried in the 1990s on charges of terrorist propaganda, but such trials had become rare in recent years.
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