SARAJEVO, Oct 9 (Hina) - Turkish police on Tuesday arrested and after 12 hours released a Bosnian journalist en route to Sarajevo via Istanbul from Pakistan, where he was covering the military operations against Afghanistan's Taliban
regime. The Bosnian Foreign Ministry said in a statament this evening that Edin Avdic, a journalist with the Sarajevo weekly Slobodna Bosna, was set free after it was established that police at Istanbul's airport had made a mistake in identifying him. "Avdic was arrested because the police mistook him for a person after whom there is an Interpol warrant. He is feeling well and will return to Sarajevo on the first flight," read the statement. According to TV BiH, during a regular check up at the Istanbul airport, Avdic was identified as a person after whom a so-called red Interpol arrest warrant had been issued. A person bearing the same name and citizenship is wanted by the
SARAJEVO, Oct 9 (Hina) - Turkish police on Tuesday arrested and
after 12 hours released a Bosnian journalist en route to Sarajevo
via Istanbul from Pakistan, where he was covering the military
operations against Afghanistan's Taliban regime.
The Bosnian Foreign Ministry said in a statament this evening that
Edin Avdic, a journalist with the Sarajevo weekly Slobodna Bosna,
was set free after it was established that police at Istanbul's
airport had made a mistake in identifying him.
"Avdic was arrested because the police mistook him for a person
after whom there is an Interpol warrant. He is feeling well and will
return to Sarajevo on the first flight," read the statement.
According to TV BiH, during a regular check up at the Istanbul
airport, Avdic was identified as a person after whom a so-called red
Interpol arrest warrant had been issued.
A person bearing the same name and citizenship is wanted by the
Austrian police for a series of crimes committed there.
What is quite unusual is that during the initial check-up, Turkish
police had the photograph, personal data and fingerprints of the
Slobodna Bosna journalist as those of the wanted person.
Only additional information, including a triple fingerprint
comparison, showed a mistake had been made.
In his first comment, the weekly's editor-in-chief Senad Avdic said
he had reason to suspect his journalist had been framed. He brought
this into the context of the fact that in its next issue, Slobodna
Bosna intends to publish the names of Bosnian citizens who were
trained in camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
"I don't want to prejudge anything, especially not without strong
evidence, but it seems to me the whole thing is a frame-up," the
editor-in-chief told TV BiH.
In the wake of September's terrorist attacks on the United States,
Slobodna Bosna has vehemently criticised Bosnia's former
authorities, the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) in particular,
for close ties with various Islamic groups which included persons
suspected of involvement in terrorist activities.
(hina) ha