Kurdish man Yahya Karabaş from the province of Batman, who was tortured by the paramilitary gendarmerie while in police custody, has been released after being arrested on Sunday.

The judge in the Criminal Division of the Batman District Court saw no reason to comply with the prosecutor's request for an arrest warrant for alleged PKK membership. However, the previously ordered reporting to sign requirements were maintained, and an exit ban was issued against Karabaş. The man, therefore, now has to report regularly to the police authorities and is not allowed to leave the country.

Yahya Karabaş is one of 15 people violently arrested by military police on 31 March during a raid in her village of Timoq (Gömüşörgü in Turkish) in Kozluk. While ten people from the group were released the same day after questioning at the local Jandarma station, Yahya Karabaş and four other men - Yakup Karabaş, Şaban Cengiz, Fırat Baran and Sadullah Karabaş - remained in custody until 3 April. During this time, they were severely harassed, according to the Batman Bar Association.

Yahya and Sadullah Karabaş are said to have even been tortured with bags over their heads.

The charge against the villagers is "membership in a terrorist organization" - meaning the PKK. After the public prosecutor's interrogation last Sunday, the court on duty in Batman issued an arrest warrant for Sadullah Karabaş. The other four from the group were released against police registration requirements.

The new arrest of Yahya Karabaş was justified by "new evidence" that had been provided as part of the investigation. The ban on access to the town of Timoq issued by the Batman governor's office last Tuesday has not yet been lifted.