Judge demands release of AI-Turkey chairman

istanbul - A Turkish judge ordered the release of the chairman of Amnesty International (AI) in Turkey, Taner Kilic. Kilic has been in detention in the West-Turkish city of Izmir for more than a year.

Against Kilic and ten other human rights activists, there are cases of involvement with terrorism. Kilic is the only one of these defendants who is imprisoned. The trial against human rights activists for 'membership of or support to an armed terrorist organization' continues on 7 November.

The government and judiciary, led by Erdogan, opened a witch hunt on a movement that holds Erdogan responsible for a bloody coup attempt in 2016. The philosophically-minded sect-like movement of Fethullah Gülen has been labeled terrorist in Turkey. Many people have been dismissed or arrested because they may have had something to do with the movement of the Gülen living in the US.