Turkish Official Says Two Vice Journalists Arrested on Terror Charges Have Been Freed

ANKARA, Turkey (TheBlaze/AP) -- Two Vice News journalists who were arrested in Turkey on terror-related charges have been released from jail, a Turkish government official said Thursday. Their assistant will remain jailed pending the conclusion of an investigation.

Image source: Vice

The two British journalists, correspondent Jake Hanrahan and cameraman Philip Pendlebury, were detained last week in Diyarbakir, the main city in Turkey's mostly Kurdish southeast, after filming in a neighborhood where Kurdish youths frequently clash with Turkish security forces. Their Turkey-based assistant and translator was also detained.

The government official told The Associated Press that Hanrahan and Pendlebury were freed on Thursday. He did not know if they would be allowed to leave Turkey or were required to remain in the country pending trial. A lawyer representing the journalists could not immediately be reached for comment.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with Turkish government rules that bar government officials from speaking to journalists without prior authorization.

The news of their release came a day after the journalists were transferred to a high-security prison in Adana more than 500 kilometers (300 miles) away from their lawyers and the courthouse in Diyarbakir where they face trial.

“VICE News has received confirmation from the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office that two of our journalists, Jake Hanrahan and Philip Pendlebury, have been released from a Turkish prison," the outlet said in a statement.

"While we are grateful that they have been freed, we are deeply worried by reports that our other VICE News colleague, Mohammed Ismael Rasool, has had his appeal of release rejected by the Turkish government," the statement continued. "We call on the Turkish authorities for a swift end to this unjust detainment and to grant his immediate release."

Vice News is a New York-based news channel that produces documentaries, breaking news reports and investigative pieces.

The arrests have prompted strong protests from media rights advocates, the U.S. and the European Union.

Scores of people have died since July in renewed fighting between Kurdish rebels and Turkey's security forces.