Israel: Trial ordered for arrested Turkish national

By Esat Firat

JERUSALEM

An Israeli military court on Monday ordered a trial and conditional release for a Turkish citizen under arrest since June 11 for alleged links to terrorist groups, according to the lawyer for Erbu Ozkan.

Omar Khamaysa, Ozkan's attorney, told Anadolu Agency that during today’s hearing at a military court in Salem, northern Israel, the court ordered a pending trial and conditional release for his client.

Khamaysa stressed that his client will be free if the Israeli prosecutor does not appeal the verdict by 5 p.m. tomorrow. The conditions for her release are 15,000 Israeli shekel ($4,125) in bail, confiscation of her passport, and her signing in twice a week at a nearby police station.

If the Israeli prosecutor fails to provide sufficient evidence, the lawyer asserted, the court order for a pending trial will come into force, and today’s ruling has no sign on any ban on Ozkan speaking to the press.

Otherwise, Khamaysa said, the case will go to a higher court. Officials from the Turkish Embassy in Tel Aviv also attended today's trial, he said.

According to Khamaysa, Ozkan was arrested on charges of “threatening Israel’s security and having links to terrorist groups” -- allegations she strenuously denies.

Ozkan is not the first Turkish citizen to have been recently detained by Israeli authorities.

In January, Osman Hazir, a 46-year-old Turkish national, was arrested for snapping a selfie at East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque while holding a Turkish flag.

And last December, Israel arrested two other Turks -- Abdullah Kizilirmak and Mehmet Gargili -- after the pair quarreled with Israeli police who had tried to bar them from entering the flashpoint holy site.

That same month, Adem Koc, another Turkish national, was arrested inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for allegedly “disturbing the peace and taking part in an illegal demonstration.”

Kizilirmak, Gargili and Koc were all subsequently released on bail.