Spain keeps Erdogan dissident in prison

The Turkish-Swedish journalist Hamza Yalçin, detained in Barcelona Airport on his way to London on August 3, is still in prison. And the Spanish National Court is keeping him there for now. On Thursday, the court rejected the Turkish journalist’s appeal and decided to keep him unconditionally imprisoned.

Hamza Yalçin had an international warrant by Turkey out for his arrest and after his detention, the Spanish National Court sent him to jail provisionally. He is accused of insulting Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in an article published in the Turkish magazine Odak and of having “terrorist links” to the extreme left-wing Revolutionary People's Liberation Party. The Spanish judges are now deciding whether he should be extradited to the country ruled by Erdoğan.

“Now is not the time to evaluate possible violations of human rights”

The judges rejected the Turkish journalist’s appeal emphasizing that “now is not the time to enter into considerations about possible violations of human rights or persecution because of his political activity” in Turkey, “or about the effects of the fact that Sweden has offered him international protection.”

According to the National Court, these are matters “to be treated according to extradition procedures” and the imprisonment “is within the law”, because the journalist does not have roots in Spain. In this sense, the Court rejects the less restrictive preventive tools asked for by the defense. “Without a home address in our country and after manifesting his will of opposing an extradition, we cannot rule out that, once in liberty, he will escape our jurisdiction.” This is the rationale that the National Court has used to keep him imprisoned.