A Turkish court has ruled for a continuation of the imprisonment of an 81-year-old Turkish man with walking and speaking difficulties, several Turkish media outlets reported.
The man, named Mustafa Türk, was initialy detained by Turkish police on September 1, 2016, over alleged links to the Gülen movement. He was detained by police in his house in Turgutlu district of Manisa province, handcuffed and driven to a police station for interrogation.
His relatives had described it as “degrading and barbaric” treatment. Several days later, he was officially arrested and sent to a prison in Manisa province.
Last weekend, the Manisa High Criminal Court reportedly decided for the continuation of his pretrial detention.
Turkey survived a controversial military coup attempt on July 15, 2016 that killed 249 people. Immediately after the putsch, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government along with President Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement.
Gülen, who inspired the movement, strongly denied having any role in the failed coup and called for an international investigation into it, but President Erdoğan — calling the coup attempt “a gift from God” — and the government initiated a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.
Turkey has suspended or dismissed more than 150,000 judges, teachers, police and civil servants since July 15. Turkey’s Justice Ministry announced on July 13 that 50,510 people have been arrested and 169,013 have been the subject of legal proceedings on coup charges since the failed coup. (SCF with turkeypurge.com)
