Turkish journalists freed after court rules rights were violated

Two Turkish journalists held in jail for the last three months on suspicion of revealing state secrets were released early on Friday after Turkey's highest court ruled their rights had been violated.

The Cumhuriyet newspaper's editor-in-chief Can Dundar and Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul emerged from the Silivri jail on the outskirts of Istanbul before dawn to be greeted by jubilant supporters and family, television pictures showed.

They were arrested in November over a report alleging that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government tried to ship arms to Islamists in Syria.

But the pair, who were held in jail for 93 days, are still set to stand trial under the charges on 25 March with prosecutors demanding multiple life terms.

"I think that this is a very historic ruling," Cumhuriyet quoted Dundar as saying as he left the prison alongside Gul.

Dundar said he harboured no anger but would continue to defend rights "with a louder voice", saying 30 colleagues still remained behind bars.

"We will continue to fight for press freedom until the concentration camp that you see behind us becomes a museum," he added.

Gul added: "This is not a story of 'I wish I had not done'. It's a story of 'I wish I can continue,'" he added.

The Constitutional Court in Istanbul ruled their "rights to personal liberty and security" and "freedom of expression and freedom of press" had been violated.

The decision was overwhelmingly approved with 12 votes for and three against, Turkish media reports said.

The case was then sent back to the lower criminal court which rubber-stamped the top court's decision, allowing the journalists to walk free.

Dundar and Gul were placed under arrest over a report in May that claimed to show proof that a consignment of weapons seized at the border in January 2014 was bound for Syria.

They have been formally charged with obtaining and revealing state secrets "for espionage purposes" and seeking to "violently" overthrow the Turkish government as well as aiding an "armed terrorist organisation".

Both Erdogan and the head of the National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) Hakan Fidan - the president's hugely powerful but low-profile ally - are named as plaintiffs in the 473-page indictment.

Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders said it was "delighted" by the decision but warned they still faced trial.

"We must all continue to campaign on their behalf. We will not rest until the absurd charges against them have been dropped," the group's secretary-general Christophe Deloire said.

The state-run Anatolia news agency said the pair remained under judicial control and were banned from leaving the country.

However the ruling by the court could be used by the defence and have a major impact on the course of the trial.