MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th August, 2018) Turkish-German journalist Mesale Tolu arrived in Germany after a Turkish court lifted her travel ban, media reported.
Tolu, working for the left-wing ETHA agency, was arrested in Turkey in May last year on terrorism-related charges. She was released in December, but still prohibited to leave the country. On August 20, the journalist announced that the court had lifted the travel ban.
According to the Welt newspaper, upon arriving in Germany, the journalist said on Sunday at a press conference that hundreds of her colleagues, students and opposition activists are held in Turkish prisons. Tolu also said she intended to return to Turkey to attend hearings on her case.
The journalist will face trial in October.
Several German nationals, including journalists Tolu, Deniz Yucel and human rights activist Peter Steudtner, were detained in Turkey on terrorist charges last year, amid a deterioration of ties between the two countries, sparked by Berlin's condemnation of Ankaras mass arrests in connection with the failed 2016 coup. German authorities have argued that the arrests were unlawful, and compromised Turkeys judiciary and security systems.
Steudtner and Yucel were released in October 2017 and February 2018, respectively.
