Turkey police hold rights activists including Amnesty chief

by Dramelin 4:30 AM 0 comments

Turkish police have arrested eight leading human rights activists including Amnesty International`s Turkey director Idil Eser in Istanbul.
Two trainers - from Germany and Sweden - were also arrested in the raid on a digital security workshop run by Amnesty at a hotel in Buyukada.
The police raid was "blatantly without cause", an Amnesty statement said.
The group`s whereabouts are unknown.
Police have jailed more than 50,000 people since a coup plot a year ago.
The police action "is a grotesque abuse of power and highlights the precarious situation facing human rights activists in the country", said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International`s Secretary General.
"Idil Eser and those detained with her must be immediately and unconditionally released.
" Turkey remains under a state of emergency imposed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after rogue army officers tried to oust him in a coup on 15 July 2016.
The post-coup crackdown has targeted tens of thousands of public servants accused of supporting US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.
Amnesty International`s Turkey chair, Taner Kilic, is also in police custody.
He was arrested on 6 June with 22 other lawyers and charged with membership of a "terrorist" organisation.
Amnesty called the charges "baseless".
The seven rights activists arrested with Ms Eser on Wednesday evening were named as: Ilknur Ustun of Women`s Coalition; Gunal Kursun and Veli Acu of Human Rights Agenda Association; Nalan Erkem and Ozlem Dalkiran of Citizens Assembly; Nejat Tastan of Equal Rights Watch Association and lawyer Seyhmus Ozbekli.