The third hearing was held in the case against the 11 civilians detained by Ankara-backed gangs in Afrin and handed over to the Turkish intelligence services, and there were no releases. The civilians said they testified under torture and threats.

Government-controlled media had presented the detention of 11 civilians by gangs in occupied Afrin as a “special operation”.

The civilians from Afrin were handed over to the Turkish intelligence MIT and are on trial for “disrupting the unity and integrity of the state” and “deliberate willful murder”.

The third hearing in the case was held at the Hatay Heavy Penal Court No.2. The civilians refused the allegations and spoke about how they were handed over to the MIT after 12 days of torture at the hands of the FSA gangs in Afrin.

The 11 civilians said they were severely tortured in the Hatay Province Gendarmerie Outpost as well and that they were forced to sign testimonies under torture and threats. The civilians were threatened with their families, mothers, wives and children.

Their lawyers said the allegations are unlawful and stated that the reports and minutes of the soldiers who were killed, the autopsy reports, the crime scene investigation recordings and the analysis on what type of weapon they were shot with were not present in the file.

The lawyers added that the torture of their clients had been proven by the reports taken from the Forensic Medicine Institution and demanded their release, citing that the current continuation of arrest is unlawful.

The prosecutor said the accusations constitute a catalogue crime and demanded the continuation of arrest. The court agreed with the prosecutor and ruled for the continuation of arrest, and postponed the next hearing to June 27.