How Can You Help Free an Outstanding Young American Journalist Imprisoned for Reporting on Human Rights Abuses?

Question by : How can you Help free an Outstanding young American journalist imprisoned for Reporting on Human rights abuses?
The excellent young American journalist Jake Hess – who is a good friend of mine – has just been imprisoned in Turkey in extremely worrying circumstances. Hess has been factually reporting from Southern Turkey for over a year now on way the Kurdish civilian population is being treated. Here’s a sample of his excellent reporting:

“Compared to most internally displaced Kurds in northern Iraq, Shamal Qadir is almost lucky. Since the Turkish army devastated his village, Kuzine, in a bombing raid Jul. 1, he’s been living in a schoolhouse, where room temperatures are comfortable and basic amenities are accessible.

“Our family bought land and started building houses in Kuzine in 1996. We did it for our children, so they’d have a place to live in the future,” Qadir tells IPS. “Now, our dreams have been destroyed.”

Qadir is one of roughly 6,500 people who have been driven from their homes by Turkish and Iranian bombings of Kurdish border villages in northern Iraq since May 24.”

For rigorously and compassionately reporting on a horrifying situation, Hess has been jailed.

AOL has the full story here :
http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/us-journalist-jake-hess-detained-in-turkey/19592727

The Committee to Protect Journalists and Journalists Without Borders have both issued statements calling for his immediate release. He is a legitimate journalist of extremely high integrity. The idea that he would have any alliance with, or sympathy for, a terror group is utterly absurd. Yet he is currently being held at the Diyarbakir (the main Kurdish city of Turkey) Anti-Terrorism Branch.

Please take just a minute to call the Turkish Embassy in Washington DC on +1 202 612 67 00 +or email them at [email protected] and politely explain that you expect this outstanding US citizen to be treated with decency, and released at once. A country that calls itself a democracy should not be imprisoning journalists for telling the truth.

Follow Johann Hari on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/johannhari101

Details :
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2010/08/15/nh_journalist_jailed_in_turkey_over_alleged_terrorist_link/

From CNN :

“But who is this 25 year old New Hampshirite and why does it matter? Jake Hess was arrested on Wednesday, nearly a week ago, on terrorism charges in Turkey.

From Hess’ writings one can see that he is passionate about human rights and critical of the Turkish government, but a terrorist? Not hardly. Still, Hess was interrogated for days by the Turkish police because his name showed up on a list of pro-Kurdish activists linked with the KCK, an umbrella group which includes a number of banned groups including the PKK.

According to Hess, the interrogations focused exclusively on his articles, including the one that appeared on Antiwar.com, and he was told he is “harming Turkey’s image” with his writing.

When the US offered to intervene on his behalf Hess really did a gutsy thing though, he told them to leave him alone. In a quote he told the diplomats “It would be hypocritical to support an American journalist who is persecuted for human rights journalism while at the same time supporting the Turkish policy of criminalizing Kurdish political activists.”

Prosecutors are seeking to have him deported from the country now, and his lawyer says he will likely be expelled in a week to 10 days. In the meantime he remains in custody in Turkey simply for writing analysis pieces that were a little too critical for the Turkish government’s taste.

http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2010/08/17/our-man-in-turkey-the-jake-hess-story/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/16/AR2010081602575.html

Best answer:

Answer by Lite xox
get Amnesty Int. involved.
they helped me afew years ago when my embassy couldn’t.
no government wants too much negative publicity.

Ive sent your post to afew peeps I know – the more voices the better

good luck
love and healing to your friend.

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