Sister's plea for release of British journalists accused of helping Islamic State
The sister of one of the British journalists being held on terror charges in Turkey has told how she hopes their "nightmare" will end soon.
Alex Pendlebury, whose brother Philip is being held along with colleague Jake Hanrahan, described the accusations as "ludicrous".
Vice News correspondent Mr Hanrahan and cameraman Mr Pendlebury were accused of helping Islamic State and detained with Turkey-based colleague Mohammed Ismael Rasool while filming clashes between police and youth members of the pro-Kurdistan Workers' Party last Thursday.
Britain has stepped up pressure on Turkey over the arrests, with the Foreign Office saying it is "concerned" and reminding the authorities in Ankara of their duty to uphold human rights law.
Mr Pendlebury turns 30 on Friday and his sister revealed she had already bought him a birthday present and made plans to visit him in London.
Ms Pendlebury told ITV Granada the situation "doesn't feel real".
She said: "I know how ludicrous the accusations are. In my head I think they will come home but it’s just a case of when.
"Hopefully they come back at the end of the week or in the next couple of days and then everything will just be fine again and we can just move on from it."
Following the arrests in the south-east city of Diyarbakir, a Foreign Office spokesman said: "Respect for freedom of expression and the right of media to operate without restriction are fundamental in any democratic society.
"Turkey is a state party to the European Convention on Human Rights and UN Declaration of Human Rights. We would expect the Turkish authorities to uphold the obligations enshrined in those agreements."
Vice News described the charges as "entirely baseless and absurd", saying it was "an attempt to intimidate and censor their coverage".
The trio have now been transported to a high-security "F-type" prison more than five hours from where their legal representation is based, according to Vice News.
Kevin Sutcliffe, Vice's head of news programming in Europe, said: "This move appears to be a blatant obstruction of the fair legal process that Turkey has repeatedly pledged to uphold. We call on the Turkish government to throw out these ridiculous charges and immediately release our colleagues."
Global human rights groups, including Amnesty International, PEN International, and the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ), have joined calls for their release.
Amnesty said in a statement: "It is completely proper that journalists should cover this important story. The decision to detain the journalists was wrong, while the allegation of assisting the Islamic State is unsubstantiated, outrageous and bizarre."
A hashtag #freevicenewsstaff was set up on Twitter so people could show their support for the arrest men, with some users describing the situation as "heartbreaking" and "unbelievable".
Mr Hanrahan and Mr Pendlebury have together covered the migrant crisis in Calais, the Scottish referendum and Irish republicanism.