Dutch Turk arrested for football match protest is out of jail

Turkish flags hanging inside a building in The Hague. Photo: DutchNews.nl

A Dutch Turkish man arrested at the beginning of August in Turkey with 16 others for supporting two hunger strikers has been released from jail, the Dutch foreign ministry said on Friday afternoon.

Earlier it was reported that Volkan Caliskan was the only one of the 17 to be held in jail. However, foreign minister Bert Koenders said on Twitter he has now been released, although he remains a suspect and is not allowed to leave the country.

The group of 17 were arrested for the banners which they unfurled during a football match and which said ‘let Nuriye and Semih live’. It was a reference to the arrest of teachers Nuriye Gülmen and Semih Özakca, who have been on hunger strike for five months.

His family claim Caliskan was unaware of the wording on the banners.

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