Detention Warrant Allegedly Issued for 4 Rights Advocates

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Detention warrants have been allegedly issued for four rights advocates who were detained in Büyükada and released on probation.

Their attorneys said that they haven’t been informed.

According to a report by Dilek Yaman from Sabah newspaper, detention warrants were issued for Nalan Erkem, Şeyhmus Özbekli, Nejat Taştan, and İlknur Üstün.

Speaking to bianet, attorney Meriç Eyüboğlu said “We haven’t been informed. We read the allegations on the newspapers as you do”.

“We were in the courthouse today. The prosecutor demanded that a detention warrant be issued. No decision was made until 4:45 p.m. and end of the shift is 5 p.m. We read the allegations on the newspapers as you do”.

What happened?

Nalan Erkem and Özlem Dalkıran (Helsinki Citizens Assembly), İlknur Üstün (Women's Coalition), İdil Eser (Human Rights Watch Director to Turkey) and Veli Acu (Human Rights Agenda Association), Günal Kurşun (Human Rights Agenda Association), Nejat Taştan (Association for Monitoring Equal Rights), Şeyhmuz Özbekli (Rights Initiative), Ali Garawi (human rights trainer), and Peter Steudtner (German citizen human rights trainer) were taken into custody during a training workshop in Büyükada, one of the Prince Islands in İstanbul.

On July 11, an additional seven days of detention was issued for the rights advocates.

On July 18, Eser, Dalkıran, Kurşun, Acu, Garawi and Steudtner were arrested. Erkem, Üstün, Taştan and Özbekli were released on probation and international travel ban was imposed on them. (TP/ÇT/TK)