Istanbul court rules to keep Amnesty’s Turkey chair in jail

ISTANBUL: An Istanbul court ruled to keep the chair of Amnesty International’s Turkey branch in jail after over one year behind bars on terror charges, in defiance of complaints by the rights group that the case has no foundation.

Taner Kilic has been held since June 2017 in the western city of Izmir, accused of links to US- based preacher Fethullah Gulen who Turkey says ordered the 2016 failed coup. Gulen denies the accusation. Kilic is one of dozens of journalists and rights activists caught up in the crackdown launched under a state of emergency after the coup, which critics say has netted not just the suspected plotters but also opponents of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The court ruled “to keep our colleague Taner Kilic, who has already been unjustly imprisoned for one year, in jail,” Amnesty Turkey said in a statement.

“All evidence shows he is innocent, this injustice is unacceptable,” it added.

The next hearing in the trial was set for Nov 7.

Kilic, who spoke to the court via video link from Izmir, was arrested on June 6, 2017, on what Amnesty describes as the ‘ baseless charge’ of belonging to a terrorist organisation.

Authorities accused Kilic of having an encrypted messaging application on his phone in August 2014 called ByLock, which Ankara claims was especially created for Gulen supporters. — AFP