Turkish court orders release of reporter

ISTANBUL: A Turkish court on Monday ordered the release under judicial control of a German journalist held for over half a year on charges of membership in a banned radical leftist group, in a case that raised tensions with Berlin.

The judge ruled that 33-year-old Mesale Tolu, who was initially detained in late April, would be released with the other five remaining detainees in the case, the Law Office of the Oppressed, which is representing her, announced on Twitter. The ruling came after a prosecutor requested at the start of Monday’s hearing that Tolu and the five others be set free.

Tolu is charged with membership in the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP), which is banned in Turkey as a terror group. "She was ordered to be released under judicial control," her lawyer Kader Tonc told AFP.

That means she should walk free from prison later on Monday after completing the formalities, but she remains charged and on trial. Tolu will have to report to the authorities every week and cannot leave the country. "We welcome this with joy and relief, even if the proceedings against her are not over," said German foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr. "It’s a first step".

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was not totally good news because Tolu remained charged under the terms of her release. "On the one hand it’s good news as she will be freed. But on the other hand it’s not completely good news because she cannot leave the country and because the trial is ongoing," the chancellor said. Her spokesman Steffen Seibert said: "It’s too early to make conclusions on how relations between Germany and Turkey will evolve."