Turkey: Novaya Gazeta reporter arrested and beaten

Arkady Babchenko, author of A Soldier's War, an account of his experience of serving with the Russian army in Chechnya, has been arrested and beaten by Turkish police in Istanbul:

Via rian.ru:

According to a statement, posted on the newspaper’s website, Babchenko was taking photographs of police cars when a group of people in civilian clothes approached him and demanded that he ceased. Shortly after, they grasped his arms and attempted to detain him.

“When I tried to wrench myself from their grasp, they pulled me to a back alley and started beating me,” the paper quoted Babchenko as saying. “I’m in hospital at the moment. I’m unable to walk.

There is video footage of the arrest:


 Update: Babchenko has now been released, and no charges have been brought by the Turkish authorities. He will not be deported from Turkey, Novaya Gazeta reports.

Further update: Turkish police are now insisting that Babchenko leaves Turkey in the near future, according to Grani.ru.