100 days on: Turkey continues to hold Amnesty chair Kilic
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Amnesty International Turkey Chair Taner Kilic is still in custody though 10 of his colleagues were ordered released after more than 100 days in jail in Turkey.
A court in Turkey ordered the release of eight human rights activists on Wednesday and two others were let go on bail.
“The release of the Istanbul 10 late last night restored some faith in Turkey's justice system. Today, that faith has been washed away," said Shalil Shetty, Amnesty's secretary-general.
Amnesty's Turkey director, Idil Eser, was among those released.
“Over the last 24 hours we have seen the twin hands of Turkey's fickle justice system at play. While one grants liberty, the other, confronted with no less baseless charges, takes it away," added Shetty.
Turkish officials first detained the activists on July 5 after a police raid on a human rights workshop on Buyukada, an island near Istanbul.
"From the moment of their detentions, it has been clear that these are politically motivated prosecutions aimed at silencing critical voices within Turkey," said Amnesty's Europe Director John Dalhuisen.
Kilic's charges carry terms of up to 15 years in prison.
They were accused of having ties to two organizations – Fetullah Gulen's movement and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Ankara alleges the first was responsible for the 2016 coup, while the latter has waged a three-decades-long guerrilla war against the Turkish government.
Kilic, a humanitarian lawyer specializing in refugees, was alleged to have "membership" in the Gulenist organization.
The government claimed he downloaded and used the encrypted ByLock messaging application on his cell phone. The prosecution provided state records of his phone number downloading the app in August 2014. Two forensic analyses of Taner's phone found "no trace" of the app ever being on his phone, according to Amnesty.
The app was downloaded more than 600,000 times worldwide between April 2012 and April 2016, Amnesty argued. However, the Turkish Supreme Court ruled in September that the app was redesigned for Gulenist members, so there are sufficient grounds to find someone guilty of membership in the group based on the use of the app.
The Guardian also reported Kilic is accused of having a bank account with Bank Asya not for his own benefit. The government also claims he is linked to the group because of his brother-in-law’s affiliation with Gulenist newspaper Zaman.
International leaders have been critical of Turkey's judicial processes. The country remains under a state of emergency following last July's failed military coup. More than 50,000 people have been detained and 150,000 have lost their jobs.
European leaders of parliament said the judicial process will provide a "litmus test" for Turkish justice.
A court in Turkey ordered the release of eight human rights activists on Wednesday and two others were let go on bail.
“The release of the Istanbul 10 late last night restored some faith in Turkey's justice system. Today, that faith has been washed away," said Shalil Shetty, Amnesty's secretary-general.
Amnesty's Turkey director, Idil Eser, was among those released.
“Over the last 24 hours we have seen the twin hands of Turkey's fickle justice system at play. While one grants liberty, the other, confronted with no less baseless charges, takes it away," added Shetty.
Turkish officials first detained the activists on July 5 after a police raid on a human rights workshop on Buyukada, an island near Istanbul.
"From the moment of their detentions, it has been clear that these are politically motivated prosecutions aimed at silencing critical voices within Turkey," said Amnesty's Europe Director John Dalhuisen.
Kilic's charges carry terms of up to 15 years in prison.
They were accused of having ties to two organizations – Fetullah Gulen's movement and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Ankara alleges the first was responsible for the 2016 coup, while the latter has waged a three-decades-long guerrilla war against the Turkish government.
Kilic, a humanitarian lawyer specializing in refugees, was alleged to have "membership" in the Gulenist organization.
The government claimed he downloaded and used the encrypted ByLock messaging application on his cell phone. The prosecution provided state records of his phone number downloading the app in August 2014. Two forensic analyses of Taner's phone found "no trace" of the app ever being on his phone, according to Amnesty.
The app was downloaded more than 600,000 times worldwide between April 2012 and April 2016, Amnesty argued. However, the Turkish Supreme Court ruled in September that the app was redesigned for Gulenist members, so there are sufficient grounds to find someone guilty of membership in the group based on the use of the app.
The Guardian also reported Kilic is accused of having a bank account with Bank Asya not for his own benefit. The government also claims he is linked to the group because of his brother-in-law’s affiliation with Gulenist newspaper Zaman.
International leaders have been critical of Turkey's judicial processes. The country remains under a state of emergency following last July's failed military coup. More than 50,000 people have been detained and 150,000 have lost their jobs.
European leaders of parliament said the judicial process will provide a "litmus test" for Turkish justice.