Turkey orders release of local chair of Amnesty International

A Turkish court today ordered the conditional release of the jailed chairman of Amnesty International in Turkey, the rights group said, although the trial will continue despite criticism from the European Union and the United States.

Taner Kılıç has been in prison since June in the coastal province of Izmir on terrorism charges. Prosecutors say he downloaded ByLock, a messaging application used by supporters of Fethullah Gulen, a US-based Muslim cleric blamed by Turkey for a failed military coup in 2016. Kılıç denies the charges.

While Taner was released, the trial against him and ten other human rights activists on terrorism-related charges continues.

“It is an enormous relief that Taner will soon be back with his wife and daughters, sleeping in his own bed for the first time in almost eight months,” Gauri van Gulik, Amnesty International’s Europe director, said.

Read: A third of all imprisoned journalists are in Turkey

People in the courtroom greeted the decision with shouts of joy, and many friends and colleagues wept and hugged one another.

“At last justice has been served. We are very happy. Eight months is a long time for an innocent person. We hope to be acquitted in the end because we are not guilty,” said Idil Eser, one of eight activists released in a hearing last October in the same case.

“Being a rights activist is not a crime,” added Eser, who is director of Amnesty International’s local branch.