Today’s Zaman editor-in-chief released

ISTANBUL

Bülent Keneş, editor-in-chief of Today's Zaman, shows his newspaper minutes before police detain him in his office in Istanbul, Turkey, late Friday, Oct. 9. AP Photo

An Istanbul criminal court of peace ruled on Oct. 14 for the release of Today’s Zaman editor-in-chief Bülent Keneş, who was under arrest on charges of 'defaming President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.'

According to the ruling, Keneş was banned from travelling abroad and has to check in with the police station closest to his home every Sunday until the indictment is submitted and his trial begins.

Keneş was arrested on Oct. 9 for allegedly “insulting” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan via Twitter posts. Keneş’s lawyers appealed the decision and the 8th Istanbul Criminal Court of Peace ruled for his release after evaluating the appeal.

Keneş had been released on probation on Oct. 8, but he was detained again on Oct. 9 after the case’s prosecutor objected to the court’s release ruling.

Today’s Zaman, which is the English version of the Turkish-language daily Zaman, is known as being close to the movement of U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, an ally-turned-foe of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government.

Following huge corruption allegations in 2013 against Erdoğan’s inner circle, thousands of suspected Gülen sympathizers were purged from the police force and the judiciary.

Hidayet Karaca, the head of the Samanyolu Broadcasting Group, which is also linked to the Gülen movement, has been under arrest since Dec. 14, 2014 on terrorism charges.

The former editor-in-chief of daily Zaman, along with its former chief news editor İbrahim Türkmen, each face up to four years in prison in the case filed on charges of “insulting” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Dumanlı and Türkmen were sued over a Zaman report headlined “Erdoğan slams terrorist attack launched by Boko Haram militants” published on Jan. 9, 2015.