• When translating news lands you in prison
    To suppress freedom of the press, some regimes arrest, prosecute and imprison translators
  • When staying incognito is paramount to staying alive
    Interpreters in war zones must wear masks to avoid being kidnapped, tortured and killed
  • When interpreting for journalists puts you in the cross hairs
    Targeted by state and non-state actors, interpreters face the fallout from controversial stories

News & More

Collateral damage

POSTED ON November 5 th, 2018

Two British journalists from Vice News and their Iraqi interpreter, Mohammed Ismael Rasool (himself a journalist), went to southern Turkey to cover a story on the clashes between pro-Kurdish youth and Turkish security forces. All three were arrested on August 27, 2015, and charged with supporting a terrorist organization. A week later, the two British nationals were released and returned to the UK. Rasool, on the other hand, was held in a maximum-security prison until, after much pressure from many sides, he was freed on bail after 131 days of imprisonment. Since his release on January 5, 2016, there have been no updates.