Two of the three Turkish men arrested for alleged terror links earlier this week are being denied family visits and legal access, their lawyer alleged today.
Rosli Dahlan said the families are only allowed to visit the men next Thursday, after they were arrested last Tuesday.
"The police confirmed they have been arrested under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 and are being probed under Section 130J of the Penal Code. They are denied right to counsel," Rosli told Malaysiakini.
Section 130J of the Penal Code is classified as an offence for soliciting or giving support to terrorist groups or for the commission of terrorist acts.
T Karaman and I Aslan were arrested on Tuesday while the third Turk, Ismet Ozcelik, was picked up on Thursday.
Meanwhile, UK's The Guardian newspaper, in an exclusive report, ran photographs featuring Karaman with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
The pictures were reportedly taken when Karaman was the secretary-general of the Malaysian-Turkish Dialogue Society, back in 2011, and was taken from the society's Facebook page.
In one of the photographs, Karaman is seen clad in a suit, smiling while standing with Najib, while in another, he is seen interviewing Najib.
The report said Karaman, who was the principal of an international school, also does not fit the stereotypical profile of an IS operative, which Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had said that Karaman is being probed for.
His social media accounts promote books on topics from Turkish cuisine to Sufism, the form of Islam abhorred by hardline jihadis, it added.
Confusion surrounding the arrest of Karaman, who has lived in the country the past 14 years, has fuelled speculation that he may be a victim of a secretive, global manhunt by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, against his detractors, following a failed coup to topple him, last year.
According to The Guardian report, Turkey's state-run news agency had reported that Karaman is linked to US-exiled preacher Fethullah Gulen, who the Turkish government is accusing of masterminding the failed coup.
The Gulen movement supports a network of loosely affiliated schools across the globe.
The Guardian had tried to reach the Malaysian-Turkish Dialogue Society, which refused to comment, while Najib's office told the paper it was looking into the case.- Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.