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| The Grand Turk |
| 22 Turks charged with terrorism get bail |
| 2011-12-11 |
| ANKARA: Twenty-two Turks charged with terrorism offenses after being arrested at an anti-government protest have been freed on bail after six months in jail in a case that rights activists say highlights the government's growing intolerance toward dissent. Police arrested 28 people in June at an Ankara protest against the death of a retired teacher who suffered a heart attack when police fired pepper spray at a demonstration against the prime minister in the Black Sea town of Hopa a few days before. Police raided their houses and found left-wing tracts and pictures of executed Turkish leftists. While no weapons were found, police seized a broken umbrella as evidence, media said. Was it a Bulgarian umbrella? Prosecutors charged 22 of them with crimes ranging from "membership of a terrorist organization", to "committing crimes in the name of a terrorist organization." Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Ankara court on Friday for the first hearing of their case. After a 12-hour hearing, the judge ordered the 22 freed on bail and demanded the files of an investigation by prosecutors into whether the accused had been tortured in custody. |
| Posted by:Steve White |