European Court of Justice condemns Turkey’s arrest of Taner Kilic, former head of the human rights organization Amnesty International in Turkey. The court rules that the deprivation of liberty in 2017 was illegal and that there is no indication that any crime had been committed.
Kilic has been accused of links to US-based preacher Fethullah Gülen, whom Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses of being behind the 2016 coup attempt.
Kilic was released on bail in August 2018. But in 2020, he was sentenced to over six years in prison for terrorist crimes. Kilic, who is not currently in custody, has appealed the verdict.
According to the European Court of Justice, Kilic’s arrest violated the European Convention on Human Rights on four points.