Arrest Of Mohammed Ismael Rasool

EDM number 740 in 2015-16, proposed by George Kerevan on 23/11/2015.
Categorised under the topics of Eastern Europe, Human rights, Middle East, Press and Prisons.

That this House is concerned at the arrest of Mohammed Ismael Rasool, a 24-year-old Iraqi Kurd, along with the two British journalists Jake Hanrahan and Phil Pendlebury, on 27 August 2015 in the south-eastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir; welcomes the release of the two British journalists 11 days after their arrest; regrets that the Turkish authorities have decided to extend the detention of Mr Rasool in a maximum security prison in Turkey on charges of assisting a terrorist organisation without yet announcing a date for his trial; notes with concern that the freedom of the press and the right of the media to operate is being overly restricted in some parts of the Turkish territory since the eruption of the Kurdish conflict in recent months; and urges the Government to continue pressing the Turkish authorities to respect their OSCE commitments as well as their international human rights obligations and to guarantee that Mr Rasool's case will be conducted according to international legal standards, as well as human rights standards.

This motion has been signed by a total of 24 MPs.