A court in İstanbul on Wednesday ordered the release on bail of eight activists, including Amnesty International Turkey director, pending a verdict in their trial on terrorism charges.
The court ruled on the trial's opening day to free eight of the 10 activists being tried at least until the proceedings end. The other two had been let out of custody. A 11th activist, Amnesty's Turkey chairman, is being tried separately in another city and remains jailed.
Ten of the activists were detained in July after they participated in a workshop on digital security held on an island near İstanbul. Eight of the defendants were held in jail ahead of the trial. Taner Kılıç, was jailed earlier this year on a separate case and was later added to the same indictment.
Among those ordered to be released were İdil Eser, the director of Amnesty in Turkey, as well as Peter Steudtner, a German national, and Ali Gharavi, a Swede. Under the terms of their release, Steudtner and Gharavi are not required to remain in Turkey before the next court date on Nov. 22.
The prosecutor has alleged a range of charges, including helping the armed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the network of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, accused by Ankara of engineering last year's coup attempt. They face up to 15 years in prison, if convicted on all charges.
