Amnesty Int'l Activists Arrested in Turkey May Face 15-Year Imprisonment

A dozen of Amnesty International activists arrested in Turkey may be imprisoned for 15 years, the DHA news agency reported.

ANKARA (Sputnik) — Turkish prosecutor's office requests an imprisonment of 15 years for the activists of Amnesty International human rights organization, who have been arrested in Turkey in July, local media reported Sunday.

As many as 11 Amnesty International activists, eight of whom remain in custody, were charged with "membership of a terrorist organization," the DHA news agency reported.

Amnesty International's Turkey Director Idil Eser alongside other 10 activists of the human rights organization was detained on the island of Buyukada off Istanbul's coast during a human rights conference on July 5. Ankara accused Amnesty International activists of plotting another coup attempt in the country and of being associated with the movement of Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, referred to as the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) by Turkey.

In July 2016, a failed military coup took place in Turkey, leaving over 240 people killed and some 2,000 injured. After the incident, Ankara introduced a national state of emergency, facilitating waves of arrests across the country which targeted mostly officials, legal and educational workers over their alleged ties to the movement of the US-based Gulen, who nevertheless rejected the accusations of and condemned the coup attempt.