Six people, including the director of Amnesty International in Turkey, were arrested by a court order on Tuesday for "helping an armed terrorist organisation", according to the state-run Anadolu Agency news outlet.

They were among the 10 who were detained in Istanbul earlier in July during a workshop on Buyukada, an island near the city.

The group comprised eight Turkish human rights activists, one Swedish trainer and one German trainer.

The Istanbul court ordered the other four be released on the condition of judicial control.

Those arrested include Amnesty International Director Idil Eser, Gunal KurSun, Ozlem Dalkıran, Veli Acu, Ali Garavi ile and Peter Steudtner.

READ MORE: Erdogan links detained rights activists to failed coup

Those released pending trial included Nalan Erkem, Seyhmus Ozbekli, Nejat Tastan and Ilknur Ustunto.

The activists had been questioned by the prosecutor since they were taken into custody on July 5.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused them of harbouring similar intentions to the perpetrators of a failed coup attempt last year.

That claim was rebuffed by Amnesty International, the rights group that has seen two of its top Turkey officials detained in a month.

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Turkey to release German national Peter Steudtner, calling his detention unjust.

"We will do everything on the part of the federal government, at all levels, to obtain his release," Merkel said.

"It is unfortunately another case where from our view blameless people enter the mills of justice and are thereby taken into custody."</s>Amnesty International director among the six jailed for 'helping an armed terrorist organisation'.

Six people, including the director of Amnesty International in Turkey, were arrested by a court order on Tuesday for "helping an armed terrorist organisation", according to the state-run Anadolu Agency news outlet.

They were among the 10 who were detained in Istanbul earlier in July during a workshop on Buyukada, an island near the city.

The group comprised eight Turkish human rights activists, one Swedish trainer and one German trainer.

The Istanbul court ordered the other four be released on the condition of judicial control.

The activists had been questioned by the prosecutor since they were taken into custody on July 5.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused them of harbouring similar intentions to the perpetrators of a failed coup attempt last year.

That claim was rebuffed by Amnesty International, the rights group that has seen two of its top Turkey officials detained in a month.</s>Amnesty Secretary General: ‘Today We Have Learned That Standing up for Human Rights has Become a Crime in Turkey’

ISTANBUL, Turkey—An Istanbul court ordered that six human rights activists detained on July 5—including the director of Turkey’s Amnesty International office—must remain in custody. A total of 10 activists were detained over accusations that they were involved in “aiding a terror group.” The remaining four activists were released from detention on July 18, pending the outcome of a trial, but have been banned from traveling abroad.

“The remanding of six human rights defenders in pre-trial custody is an appalling affront to justice and a new low in Turkey’s post-coup crackdown,” said Amnesty International in a statement.

Amnesty International Turkey’s Director, Idil Eser, who was among those remanded in custody, was detained alongside nine others on July 5 while attending a routine workshop. All 10 activists are suspected, without grounds, of committing crime “in the name of a terrorist organization without being a member.” The six who were remanded in custody join Amnesty International Turkey’s Chair, Taner Kiliç, behind bars.

“Turkish prosecutors have had 12 days to establish the obvious: that these activists are innocent. The decision to proceed shows that truth and justice have become total strangers in Turkey,” said Amnesty International’s Secretary General Salil Shetty. “This is not a legitimate prosecution, this is a politically motivated persecution that charts a frightening future for rights in Turkey,” Shetty added.

The bizarre accusations include attempts to link Idil Eser with three unrelated and opposing terrorist organizations through her work with Amnesty International. The prosecutor’s request that she be remanded in pre-trial prison custody references two Amnesty International campaigns, neither of which were authored by Amnesty Turkey, one of which was conducted before she joined the organization.

An accusation levelled against İlknur Üstün of the Women’s Coalition, who was released on bail, is that she requested funding from “an embassy” to support a project on “gender equality, participation in policy making and reporting.”

“Today we have learned that standing up for human rights has become a crime in Turkey. This is a moment of truth, for Turkey and for the international community,” said Shetty. “Leaders around the world must stop biting their tongues and acting as if they can continue business as usual. They must bring pressure to bear on Turkish authorities to drop these spurious charges and to immediately and unconditionally release the rights defenders,” Shetty added.

The six jailed human rights defenders are İdil Eser (Amnesty International), Günal Kurşun (Human Rights Agenda Association), Özlem Dalkıran (Citizens’ Assembly), Veli Acu (Human Rights Agenda Association), Ali Gharavi (IT strategy consultant), and Peter Steudtner (non-violence and wellbeing trainer).

The four human rights defenders who were released on bail are İlknur Üstün (Women’s Coalition), Şeyhmus Özbekli (Rights Initiative), Nejat Taştan (Equal Rights Watch Association), and Nalan Erkem,(Citizens Assembly).

Taner Kiliç was detained on June 6. He was charged three days later with “membership of the Fethullah Gülen Terrorist Organization” and remanded in pre-trial detention. Taner Kiliç has served on the board of Amnesty International Turkey for various periods since 2002 and has been Chair since 2014. During his decades of work for human rights organizations in Turkey he has consistently demonstrated an unswerving commitment to human rights.

Amnesty International has initiated an online campaign demanding the release of the jailed activists. The campaign can be accessed here: https://www.amnesty.org/en/get-involved/take-action/tell-erdogan-free-amnesty-turkey-idil-eser-and-nine-others/.</s>Amnesty International said on Tuesday truth and justice had become "total strangers" in Turkey after its local director and five other activists were remanded in custody on accusations of belonging to a terrorist organisation.

Idil Eser, local director of the London-based organisation, was one of a group of activists including a German and a Swedish national detained on July 5 while attending a workshop on digital security and information management near Istanbul.

Turkey's state prosecutor had asked the court on Monday to remand all 10 in custody pending trial on charges of membership of a terrorist organisation.

"Turkish prosecutors have had 12 days to establish the obvious: that these ten activists are innocent. The decision to proceed shows that truth and justice have become total strangers in Turkey," said Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Salil Shetty.

"This is not a legitimate investigation, this is a politically motivated witch-hunt that charts a frightening future for rights in Turkey."

The court ordered four of the activists be released, Hurriyet newspaper said. The 10 activists were detained as part of a crackdown following last July's failed coup attempt in Turkey.</s>related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery.

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Amnesty International said on Tuesday truth and justice had become "total strangers" in Turkey after its local director and five other activists were remanded in custody on accusations of belonging to a terrorist organisation.

ANKARA: Amnesty International said on Tuesday truth and justice had become "total strangers" in Turkey after its local director and five other activists were remanded in custody on accusations of belonging to a terrorist organisation.

Idil Eser, local director of the London-based organisation, was one of a group of activists including a German and a Swedish national detained on July 5 while attending a workshop on digital security and information management near Istanbul.

Turkey's state prosecutor had asked the court on Monday to remand all 10 in custody pending trial on charges of membership of a terrorist organisation.

"Turkish prosecutors have had 12 days to establish the obvious: that these ten activists are innocent. The decision to proceed shows that truth and justice have become total strangers in Turkey," said Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Salil Shetty.

"This is not a legitimate investigation, this is a politically motivated witch-hunt that charts a frightening future for rights in Turkey."

The court ordered four of the activists be released, Hurriyet newspaper said. The 10 activists were detained as part of a crackdown following last July's failed coup attempt in Turkey.</s>(ISTANBUL) — A court in Istanbul ordered six human rights activists — including Amnesty International's Turkey director — formally arrested Tuesday pending a trial over accusations that they aided an armed terror group, adding to concerns over human rights in the country.

Four other activists were released from custody pending the outcome of a trial. They have been barred from traveling abroad and have to report regularly to police.

The group was detained earlier this month in a police raid at a hotel on Buyukada island while attending a training workshop on digital security.

It is not clear which terror organization they are accused of helping but Turkish media reports said prosecutors, requesting the arrests, presented as evidence records of their communications with suspects linked to Kurdish and left-wing 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.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earlier this month made vague accusations, saying the group was involved in a meeting that had the "nature of a continuation" of the coup attempt.

Those ordered jailed include Amnesty's Turkey director, Idil Eser, and activists from the Helsinki Citizens Assembly and the Human Rights' Agenda Association. Their two trainers — a German and a Swede — were also arrested.

Amnesty, which had called for their release, said their case is a test for Turkey's judiciary.

"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, told a group of reporters waiting outside the courthouse as the group was being questioned by prosecutors.

Turkey declared a state of emergency days after the coup and launched a massive crackdown, arresting about 50,000 people and dismissing more than 100,000 workers from government jobs. The crackdown initially focused on people with suspected ties to the alleged coup plotters, but has been extended to include politicians, journalists and activists.

Eser is the second top Amnesty International official in Turkey to be arrested. Last month, Amnesty's Turkey chair, Taner Kilic, was arrested for alleged links to Gulen's movement.</s>An Istanbul court has ordered six human rights activists - including Amnesty International's Turkey director - to be formally arrested pending a trial on charges of aiding an armed terror group.

Four other activists were released from custody on Tuesday pending the outcome of a trial.

They have been barred from travelling abroad and have to report regularly to police.

The group was detained earlier this month at a hotel on Buyukada island while attending a training workshop, adding to concerns over human rights in Turkey.

It is not clear which terror organisation they are accused of helping.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had made vague accusations, saying the group was involved in a meeting that had the "nature of a continuation" of last year's failed coup attempt.

Amnesty International said the arrests are "an appalling affront to justice and a new low in Turkeyâs post-coup crackdown".

The group said all 10 are suspected of "committing crime in the name of a terrorist organisation without being a member".

The six who were remanded in custody join Amnesty International Turkeyâs Chair, Taner KiliÃ§, behind bars.

Colm OâGorman, Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland, said: "Turkish prosecutors have had 12 days to establish the obvious: that these ten activists are innocent. The decision to proceed shows that truth and justice have become total strangers in Turkey.

"This is not a legitimate investigation, this is a politically motivated witch-hunt that charts a frightening future for rights in Turkey."

The group said the "bizarre accusations" include attempts to link Idil Eser with three unrelated and opposing terrorist organisations through her work for Amnesty International.

The prosecutor's request that she be remanded in pre-trial prison custody references two campaigns by Amnesty International, neither of which were authored by Amnesty Turkey, one of which was conducted before she joined the organisation, they said.

They also claimed that an accusation levelled against Ä°lknur ÃstÃ¼n of the Women's Coalition, who was released on bail, is that she requested funding from âan embassyâ to support a project on âgender equality, participation in policy making and reporting.â

Mr O'Gorman said: "Today we have learnt that standing up for human rights has become a crime in Turkey. This is a moment of truth, for Turkey and for the international community. Leaders around the world must stop biting their tongues and acting as if they can continue business as usual.

"They must bring pressure to bear on Turkish authorities to drop the investigation and to immediately and unconditionally release the rights defenders."</s>ANKARA: A Turkish court has remanded in custody the local director of Amnesty International and five other human rights activists, the mass-circulation newspaper Hurriyet said on Tuesday.

Idil Eser, the local Amnesty director, was one of 10 activists including a German and a Swedish national who were detained on July 5 while attending a workshop on digital security and information management at a hotel near Istanbul.

Turkey's state prosecutor had asked the court on Monday to remand all of them in custody pending trial for membership of a terrorist organization.

The court ordered four of the activists to be released, the newspaper said. The 10 activists were detained in an ongoing crackdown following last July's failed coup attempt in Turkey.</s>A Turkish court on Tuesday ordered that six human rights activists including Amnesty International's Turkey director remain in custody for aiding a terror group, in a case the NGO called a "travesty of justice."

Turkey director Idil Eser was detained on July 5 along with seven other activists and two foreign trainers during a digital security and information management workshop on Buyukada, an island south of Istanbul.

"Six were remanded in custody and four released on judicial control," Amnesty International's Turkey researcher Andrew Gardner told AFP.

Prosecutors accuse them of "committing a crime in the name of a terror organisation without being a member," he said.</s>A Turkish court on Tuesday jailed Amnesty International’s Turkey director and five other human rights activists pending trial for allegedly aiding an armed terror group — making them the latest suspects in a massive government crackdown initially launched against alleged supporters of last year’s failed coup but has since broadened to include government opponents.

In a decision which 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, but barred them from travelling abroad. They will also have to report regularly to police.

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 added to the growing concerns over rights and freedoms in the country where the post-coup crackdown has resulted in more than 50,000 arrests and the dismissal of more than 110,000 from government jobs. The crackdown has netted journalists, politicians and activists. Several media outlets and NGOs have been shut down.

“This is not a legitimate investigation, this is a politically motivated witch-hunt that charts a frightening future for rights in Turkey,” said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s secretary general.

He said: “Today we have learnt that standing up for human rights has become a crime in Turkey. This is a moment of truth, for Turkey and for the international community.”

Shetty also called on countries to put pressure on Turkey to release the activists, saying: “leaders around the world must stop biting their tongues and acting as if they continue business as usual.”

Amnesty said the 10 are suspected of “committing crime in the name of a terrorist organization without being a member.”

Germany’s government is calling for the release of the German trainer, who it identified as Peter Steudtner.

“We are strongly convinced that this arrest is absolutely unjustified,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, according to the dpa news agency.

Merkel added that the German government would “do everything, on all levels” to secure his release.

The U.S. condemned the detentions of the activists and called for their immediate release.

“Prosecutions like these with little evidence or transparency undermine Turkey’s rule of law and the country’s obligation to respect individual rights,” U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters in Washington. “We urge Turkish authorities to drop the charges, release those who’ve been detained and remove the provisions of the state of emergency that allow indiscriminate prosecution of individuals.”

Turkish media reports said prosecutors, requesting the arrests, presented as evidence records of their communications with suspects linked to Kurdish and left-wing 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.

Amnesty said accusations against Eser tried to link her to three terror organizations through her work with the advocacy group. Prosecutors had referred to two campaigns led by Amnesty, which weren’t authored by Amnesty Turkey, the rights group said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier this month rejected the label “activists” when asked about the 10, and made vague accusations, saying the group was involved in a meeting that had the “nature of a continuation” of the coup attempt.

Turkey says the crackdown is necessary to weed out Gulen’s followers amid a continued threat from his movement and to eradicate terror groups.

In April, Erdogan went on to win by a narrow majority a referendum on a series of constitutional amendments that will increase the powers of his office with few checks and balances and abolish the position of prime minister, a development critics fear will lead Turkey toward authoritarian rule.

Earlier this month, European Parliament has advised the European Union to freeze accession talks with Turkey amid growing concerns over declining human rights, media freedoms and rule of law issues in Turkey. Frequent comments by Erdogan vowing to re-instate the death penalty have also raised alarm.

Turkey’s main opposition party called the court’s decision a “shame for Turkey” and raised concerns about whether they would get a fair trial.

“In Turkey, the judiciary is far away from being objective and independent,” said Sezgin Tanrikulu, a former human rights lawyer and legislator from the opposition Republican People’s Party, CHP. “It’s impossible to speak o fair hearings in an environment where there is no objective and independent judiciary.”

Earlier, this month, the CHP’s leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, completed a 25-day “March for Justice” from Ankara to Istanbul to oppose the government’s crackdown and highlight alleged government interference in the judiciary.

In addition to Eser, activists from the Helsinki Citizens Assembly and the Human Rights’ Agenda Association were jailed. The four activists that were released on bail are from the Citizen’s Assembly, the Women’s Coalition, Equal Rights Watch Association and the Rights initiative.

Eser is the second top Amnesty International official in Turkey to be arrested. Last month, Amnesty’s Turkey chair, Taner Kilic, was arrested for alleged links to Gulen’s movement.
Turkey arrests six people, including the director of Amnesty International, for allegedly "helping an armed terrorist organisation".