Turkish authorities have detained an activist who chided Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government for “democratic backsliding” at a Council of Europe body, his lawyer said on Wednesday.
Enes Hocaoğulları was detained on Tuesday as he arrived at Ankara Airport. “He’s currently in Sincan prison, on the outskirts of Ankara,” added his lawyer, Mahmut Seren, who called the action “politically motivated.”
Hocaoğulları—an advocate of human rights and LGBT rights—condemned “democratic backsliding” and “human rights violations” in Turkey at the congress, a few days after the March 19 arrest of Istanbul’s opposition mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on graft allegations. He also lashed out at Turkish police for using what he called “disproportionate brutality” against protesters who took to the streets across the country.
Hocaoğulları’s arrest drew criticism from the Council of Europe.
“The arrest and charges in question, based on words spoken by a Congress youth delegate during a plenary sitting of the Congress, flout the fundamental right to free expression, which is a cornerstone of democracy in Europe,” Marc Cools, president of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, said in a statement.
