Turkey Frees Gabriele Del Grande

Gabriele Del Grande, a Tuscan reporter detained by police on April 9 in Turkey while collecting information for a book on Syrian refugees on the Syrian-Turkish border, was finally sent home on April 24.  His family, residents of Lucca, left early in the morning to meet him at the Bologna airport.

Turkish authorities had confiscated his personal belongings, including a cell phone, and Del Grande had begun a hunger strike after 10 days in prison.  He was allowed only one call to his companion in Greece.  Del Grande did not have a press pass issued by Turkey was the justification given for the detention.

The journalist is the creator of Fortezza Europa, a blog that chronicles the arrivals as well as deaths of refugees attempting to migrant to Europe.  He is also one of the directors of the documentary, “I sto con la sposa” (I’m on the bride’s side), a true of of a group of Syrians who were allowed into Sweden with the excuse of participating in a friend’s wedding.

On April 5, shortly before leaving for Instabul, Del Grande had written on Facebook, “journalists have the duty to report war crimes and be guaranteed both access to restricted areas and the independence of their work.”

Flash mobs in Lucca and Prato supported Del Grande’s mission and publicly protested against his detention.  To read more in Italian, visit Florence’s La Repubblica news site.