Taner Kılıç arrested on exiting prison

An order was passed for the release of the sole detained defendant in the trial, Amnesty International's Turkey Branch Executive Board Director Taner Kılıç, Attorney-at-Law. Kılıç was arrested at the exit to İzmir Aliağa Şakran Prison following his release and taken to police premises.
 
 
An order was passed for the release of Amnesty International's Turkey Branch Executive Board Director Taner Kılıç, Attorney-at-Law, who was the only defendant in pretrial detention in the trial of eleven human rights activists arrested during a meeting being held on Büyükada. Kılıç was arrested at the exit to İzmir Aliağa Şakran Prison following his release and taken to police premises.
 
Istanbul Republic Prosecution had objected to Serious Crime Court No 36 as senior court against Serious Crime Court No 35’s release pending trial of the last detained defendant in the Büyükada trial, Amnesty International's Turkey Branch Executive Board Director Taner Kılıç, Attorney-at-Law.
 
Amnesty International has made an announcement on Twitter in relation to Kılıç's arrest. The announcement read, “On Taner’s release: the prosecutor appealed the court decision to release him. We don’t know if the appeal court has made a decision. What we do know is that there has been an arrest warrant issued and that Taner has been taken out of prison and into Gendarmerie custody.”
 
The hearing prosecutor applied for a decision to extend Taner Kılıç’s detention, but the bench of Serious Crime Court No 35, in turn, ordered by majority vote for Kılıç to be released pending trial, with a ban placed on him travelling abroad. The prosecution objected against the release order to the next senior court.
 
What happened at the trial?
 
The third hearing of the trial in which eleven people, including foreign representatives, who were arrested during a meeting on the subjects of stress, trauma and digital security held on Istanbul’s Büyükada island, face charges of “aiding armed terrorist organisations” and “membership of an armed terrorist organisation” was heard today at Istanbul Serious Crime Court No 35.
 
Kılıç: I number among the as yet unannounced ByLock victims
 
The hearing, which was monitored by a delegation from Amnesty International and was attended by seven defendants who are on release pending trial, started at around 11.00 following the additional admission of journalists and rights advocates to the courtroom.
 
The manager of the hotel on Büyükada at which the meeting was held and which was raided by the police was heard at the hearing. The hotel manager spoke as follows:
 
“Neither Ms Dalkıran nor the other participants requested a venue for a private or secret meeting. They had no request for hotel staff not go to the place where the meeting was being held for the duration of the meeting, either. The place where the meeting was held was a meeting room that we also routinely assign to other people. They went into the pool and dined just like normal hotel customers.”
 
“Secret” witness: Nothing political was discussed – I did not see the map at the police station at the meeting
 
The secret witness whose testimony was expected to be heard at the trial was not presented at the hearing. In his/her statement, which was obtained under an instruction, he/she said that the subject of the meeting was computers, data security and the protection of personal data and nothing political was discussed. The secret witness said that he/she was shown a map at the police station but stated he/she had not seen such a map at the meeting.
 
With Taner Kılıç’s lawyers stating that the necessary examination into ByLock had not been conducted for eight months and arguing that the trial was not fair in view of this, Kılıç, participating at the hearing via video link from İzmir Şakran Prison where he is being held in detention, said, “I number among the as yet unannounced ByLock victims. We have proved our innocence with the reports we have submitted until now.”
 
No detained defendants remain
 
With the prosecutor calling for an extension of Kılıç’s detention while making his recommendation, his lawyers, for their part, applied for his release. Following the recess that was held, the court bench ordered Kılıç’s release. It was additionally decided for ten of the rights advocates to be exempted from attending hearings. The fourth hearing of the trial in which there remain no detained defendants will be held on 21 June.
 
Detained since 19 June
 
Lawyer Kılıç was arrested along with 22 lawyers on 6 June as part of the investigation into the Fethullah Gülen structure. The court ordered Taner Kılıç's detention on 19 June.
 
Cited as grounds in the order were, alongside the claim that he “had downloaded and used the ByLock program,” Kılıç's subscription to Zaman newspaper, Zaman newspaper’s editor in chief (Ekrem Dumanlı) being married to his sister and his children having been sent to schools that had been closed under decrees with the force of law. The joinder of Kılıç's case with the trial known publicly as the Büyükada trial was ordered.