TURKISH COURT JAILS SIX HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS

ISTANBUL A Turkish court on Tuesday jailed Amnesty International’s Turkey director and five other human rights activists for allegedly aiding an armed terror group, making them the latest suspects in a massive government crackdown launched against alleged supporters of last year’s failed coup but since broadened to include government opponents.

In a decision Amnesty International called a “crushing blow for rights in Turkey,” the court in Istanbul also decided to release four other activists from custody pending the outcome of a trial.

The 10 — Amnesty’s Turkey director Idil Eser, seven human rights defenders and their German and Swedish trainers — were detained in a July 5 police raid on a hotel on the island of Buyukada, off Istanbul, where they were attending a digital security workshop.

The detentions add to concerns over rights and freedoms in Turkey, where the post-coup crackdown has resulted in more than 50,000 arrests.

Turkish media reports said prosecutors presented as evidence records of their communications with suspects linked to Kurdish and leftwing militants as well as the movement led by U.S.-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of orchestrating last year’s failed coup attempt.

“Turkey will be disgraced in the eyes of world if these human rights defenders are put in prison for defending human rights,” Andrew Gardner, Amnesty’s Turkey researcher, pictured, told a group of reporters waiting outside the courthouse as the group was being questioned by prosecutors.