Gültekin Avcı, a former Turkish prosecutor and TV pundit, was detained on Saturday due to an appeal from a prosecutor, one day after being released pending trial by a Turkish court, according to the Turkish media.
Avcı had been in pretrial detention since August 15, 2016.
Prosecutors charged Avcı in connection with a series of columns he wrote in 2013 and 2014 for Bugün in which he alleged that the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), Turkey’s spy agency, had links to Tawhid-Salam. Avcı was also accused of alleged membership in the faith-based Gülen movement.
During his defense before the court Avcı spoke about the ill treatment he had been subjected to in prison and the fact that he was unable to get a response from authorities to his petitions complaining about that abuse.
The most recent figures documented by SCF show that 176 journalists and media workers were in jail as of September 13, 2019. Of those in prison 84 were under arrest pending trial, while 92 journalists have been convicted and are serving their time. Detention warrants are outstanding for 167 journalists who are living in exile or remain at large in Turkey
