Turkish daily Cumhuriyet on Friday printed an open letter to Italian Premier Matteo Renzi written by its jailed editor-in-chief, Can Dundar, appealing to the premier to not ignore violations of human rights in Turkey in exchange for an agreement on the migrant crisis.
Dundar was imprisoned last November together with Cumhuriyet's Ankara correspondent Erdem Gul for an investigative report they ran into the alleged passage of weapons from Turkey to Syria.
In the letter, Dundar said "there are currently more arrested journalists in Turkish prisons than in those of Syria" and also recalled "the intimate friendship" between former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi and current Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Erdogan had said the two would "pay a high price" for having published their report.
The pair are accused of espionage and terrorist propaganda.
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