The prosecutor has stated that “there was no concrete evidence” in investigation launched against Oktay Candemir, Arif Aslan and Lokman Gezgin

NİMET ÖLMEZ, VAN

Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has decided not to prosecute Voice of America (VOA) regional correspondent for Kurdish Desk Arif Aslan as well as journalists Oktay Candemir and Lokman Gezgin, who were detained in a house raid on 27 February 2024 and kept in custody for three days in Van.

The prosecutor has stated that “there was no concrete evidence,” and also ruled for the confiscated equipment and documents to be returned to the journalists.

In the indictment, the journalists were charged with “funding a terrorist organization.” Equipment and archives of the journalists were confiscated during their time in custody.