GUEST BLOG / By
Thomas Burr, President, National Press Club, Washington DC--The National Press
Club expressed concern Thursday for the well-being of an American freelance
journalist who has reportedly been detained for more than three weeks in a
Turkish jail.
The reporter, Lindsey Snell, has worked for news
organizations such as MSNBC, Yahoo News, ABC News and Vocativ, according to her
social media accounts and news reports.
Snell was detained Aug. 7 after crossing from Syria into
Turkey and has been charged by Turkish authorities with violating a war zone,
the State Department has confirmed.
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| Lindsey Snell |
It is not clear from news accounts whether Snell was
reporting in Syria or why she was going to Turkey. Two days prior to her
arrest, Snell had described on her Facebook page how she had been held by an al
Qaeda-affiliated group in Syria and subsequently escaped.
Turkey has for several years become increasingly repressive
toward the press, never more so than since a July 15 coup attempt against the
regime of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He has cited the coup as a rationale for
further crackdowns on not only journalists but academics, civil servants and
others.
Turkey issued arrest warrants for 35 more journalists this
week. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Turkish authorities
have closed down more than 100 news organizations and detained more than 100 of
their employees, while at least 330 journalists have had their credentials
revoked.
Contact: John M. Donnelly, chairman, NPC Press Freedom
Committee: jdonnelly@cq.com; 202 746 6020
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