8 human rights defenders and 2 international trainers, including Amnesty International Turkey Director Idil Eser, were detained from a meeting they were holding in the Prince’s Islands in Istanbul on July 5. They were taken to prosecutor’s office to give their statements yesterday and were referred to court at night with a demand for their arrest. Human rights defenders Idil Eser, Ali Ghravi, Peter Steudtner, Veli Acu, Günal Kurşun and Özlem Dalkiran were later arrested on charges of “aiding a terrorist organization”.

Human rights defenders Nalan Erkem, Şeyhmus Özbekli, Nejat Taştan and İlknur Üstün were released with a travel abroad ban and on condition of signing in with the police 3 times a week.