Turkey puts 6 rights activists in custody for aiding terror group
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E-mail Xinhua, July 18, 2017
A Turkish court ruled Tuesday six human rights activists including Amnesty's Turkey director remain in custody for aiding a terror group, local media reported.
Prosecutors accuse them of "committing a crime in the name of a terror organisation without being a member," it said.
Their detention sparked international alarm and amplified fears of declining freedom of expression under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The ruling came a day after the activists, who have not yet been put on trial or formally charged, gave statements to prosecutors for the first time since their detention.
Amnesty's Turkey director Idil Eser was detained on July 5 with seven activists and two foreign trainers during a digital security and information management workshop in an island south of Istanbul.
Eight of those detained were Turkish rights activists, including Ilknur Ustun of the Women's Coalition and Veli Acu of the Human Rights Agenda Association. Four of those have now been released, it added.
Two foreigners, a German and a Swede who were leading the digital information workshop, remain in pre-trial detention.
The activists were detained on a tip-off they were working against the government, comparing them to those involved in a failed putsch in July last year.
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