ISTANBUL (A.W.)—Amnesty International said on Thursday that a decision to renew the detention of the organization’s Turkey Chair Taner Kılıç—hours after a court ordered his release—must be immediately reversed.
“Over the last 24 hours we have borne witness to a travesty of justice of spectacular proportions. To have been granted release only to have the door to freedom so callously slammed in his face is devastating for Taner, his family and all who stand for justice in Turkey,” said Amnesty International Secretary General Salil Shetty in a statement earlier today.
“This latest episode of his malicious detention has dashed the hopes of Taner and those of his wife and daughters who were waiting by the prison gates all day to welcome him into their arms,” the statement went on.
An Istanbul trial court decided yesterday to conditionally release Kılıç from pretrial detention. After the prosecutor appealed the court’s decision, a second court in Istanbul accepted the appeal. According to Amnesty International, instead of being released Kılıç was taken from Izmir prison, where he had been held since June, into police custody.
On Thursday afternoon, the trial court accepted the second court’s decision to continue his detention.
“This is the latest example of the crisis in Turkey’s justice system that is ruining lives and hollowing out the right to a fair trial,” noted Shetty. “By riding roughshod over justice and ignoring the overwhelming evidence of his innocence his re-detention only deepens our resolve to continue to fight on Taner’s case. One million voices have already called for his release. He should never have been arrested, and we will not rest until he is free.”
Kılıç’s next court hearing has been set for June 21.
Last October, an Istanbul court decided to conditionally release 10 human rights defenders while their trial continued. The Izmir court in charge of Kılıç decided not to release him, however.
Following last year’s conditional release, Shetty said the politically motivated prosecutions are an attempt to silence critical voices within Turkey. He also said the trials highlight the importance of human rights and those who dedicate their lives to defending them. “The twin hands of Turkey’s fickle justice system are at play: one grants liberty, the other takes it away,” he noted.
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