Fréderike Geerdink, who has been accused of posting messages supporting the outlawed PKK, faces five years in jail

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

A Turkish prosecutor has formally accused a Dutch journalist of “terrorist propaganda” and asked she be jailed for up to five years, local media have reported. The move will deepen fears over press freedom in the Nato member state.

Security forces briefly detained freelance journalist Fréderike Geerdink last month and raided her home in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish south-east.

The indictment, accepted by a Diyarbakir court, accuses Geerdink of posting messages on social media in favour of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers party (PKK), including a display of the group’s flag, Hurriyet Daily News reported on Monday.

Geerdink has repeatedly taken to social media since her detention to deny the charges.

Her detention sparked an outcry from Turkey’s western partners, already concerned at what they see as mounting intolerance to criticism under President Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey languishes near the bottom of league tables measuring press freedom, though Erdogan insists its media are among the most unfettered in the world.

Geerdink has reported from Turkey since 2006 and focused mainly on Kurdish issues, a highly sensitive topic after a decades long insurgency by PKK militants demanding greater autonomy, which has left an estimated 40,000 people dead.

Efforts to bring a permanent end to the bloodshed since a ceasefire in 2012 have stalled in recent months.