Turkey acquits Dutch reporter of 'terror propaganda' charges

A Turkish court today acquitted a Dutch journalist tried on charges of spreading "terrorist propaganda" for the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a judicial source said.
Frederike Geerdink, who is based in the Kurdish-majority southeastern city of Diyarbakir, had been briefly detained in January after authorities raided her home, prompting concerns in Turkey and abroad.
She was charged with disseminating "propaganda for a terrorist organisation" in a series of postings on social media and faced up to five years in prison if convicted.
A Diyarbakir court acquitted Geerdink of the charges at the second hearing of the trial today. The ruling came after prosecutors demanded in a surprise move last week that the charges against her be dropped.

The case against her highlighted concerns about press freedom in Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, where a host of public figures are facing legal proceedings on charges of insulting the president.
Geerdink, who moved to Turkey in 2006, has been based in Diyarbakir since 2012 and specialises in writing about the Kurds.
The case also came as the government and Kurdish leaders are seeking to end the decades-long insurgency in the southeast by the PKK for self-rule and greater rights for Kurds that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.