ISTANBUL: Turkey jailed two journalists over a report on the funeral of aTurkish intelligence officer apparently killed in Libya, local mediareported Thursday.
News director Baris Terkoglu and reporter Hulya Kilinc — who face up tonine years in prison — were detained earlier this week after a video waspublished on the *OdaTV *website claiming to show the officer’s quietburial, the *Hurriyet *newspaper reported.
The journalists were taken to an Istanbul court on Wednesday which formallyarrested them on suspicion of disclosing the identity of an intelligenceagency official, state news agency *Anadolu *said.
*OdaTV *published the officer’s first name and the initial of his lastname, reporting that he was buried in the western province of Manisa, theCommittee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said.
The news site responded that an opposition lawmaker had already revealedthe officer’s identity.
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu criticised the report in aninterview with *CNN Turk*.
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“There is such a thing as state secrets, national security secrets,” hesaid.
Terkoglu served 19 months in jail in 2011-12 on accusations of taking partin an alleged plot to topple the government. He was later released alongwith many others at the time and the case later fell apart.
Turkey says it has sent dozens of military personnel for training purposesto support the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli as it headsoff an assault by Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar, but denies they areengaged in active fighting.
RSF ranks Turkey 157th out of 180 countries for press freedom, and the CPJsaid 47 journalists were behind bars in December. -APP/AFP
