TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Italian journalist home after 2 weeks detention in Turkey

News Desk (Associated Press)

Rome

Mon, April 24, 2017 Published on Apr. 24, 2017 Published on 2017-04-24T17:42:54+07:00

Gabriele Del Grande, left, is flanked by his partner Alexandra D'Onofrio after landing at the Bologna airport, Italy, Monday, April 24, 2017. An Italian journalist has returned to Italy after being detained 2 weeks in Turkey for entering an area without permission. Gabriele Del Grande, a blogger and documentary maker who has reported on Syrian refugees, was detained after entering Hatay region in southern Turkey. He arrived Monday at Bologna airport and said he had been treated well but wanted to know why he was deprived of freedom for 14 days “for doing his job.” (AP/Giorgio Benvenuti)

A

n Italian journalist has returned to Italy after being detained for two weeks in Turkey, apparently because he entered an area near the Syrian border without proper permission.

Gabriele Del Grande, a blogger and documentary maker who has written about refugees, was detained after entering the area of Hatay in southern Turkey. He arrived Monday at Bologna airport on a flight from Turkey. He said he had been treated well but wanted to know why he was deprived of his freedom for 14 days "for doing his job."

Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano, flanking Del Grande at the airport, credited quiet diplomacy for the release.

Del Grande said he went on a hunger strike for seven days, so the first thing he wanted to do was "go eat."