Erol Önderoğlu

Erol Önderoğlu (born 1969) is a Turkish-French journalist, and a representative of Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières, RSF). In 2016, he was arrested by the Turkish government for his work supporting Ozgur Gundem, a Kurdish newspaper, and accused of supporting terrorists; his arrest was widely criticized as suppression of freedom of the press.

Early life and professional career Önderoğlu spent his childhood in France, and is fluent in French. He met his wife, who is also of Turkish descent, in France; the couple have a son. Önderoğlu is a French citizen. He has also served as the monitoring editor for Turkish press agency Bianet, for whom he began working in 1997. His work for Bianet included quarterly reports on free speech in Turkey.

Prosecution In June 2016 Önderoğlu was arrested after attending a meeting for Ozgur Gundem, a Kurdish newspaper, on World Press Freedom Day. and were accused of spreading "terrorism propaganda" in favor of the Kurdistan Workers' Party.