German journalist Mesale Tolu still barred from leaving Turkey

BERLIN, April 26 (Xinhua) -- The German journalist Mesale Tolue must continue to remain within Turkey following her release from custody, a court on Istanbul ruled on Thursday.

According to the German Foreign Office, at least five German citizens remain imprisoned in Turkey on political grounds. As recently as last week, Adil Demirici, a social worker from Cologne, was taken into custody for allegedly spreading terrorist propaganda.

The Left party (Linke) parliamentary delegate Heike Haensel who is monitoring the court case in Istanbul sharply criticized the decision of the court to prevent Tolu from leaving Turkey.

Haensel spoke of a judicial "scandal", telling press that it was "not comprehensible" that the formerly-imprisoned German citizens Deniz Yuecel and Peter Steudtner had been allowed to leave while Tolu was refused the same right.

The German Left party delegate described the charges against Tolu as "constructed" and lacking in concrete evidence. Haensel urged the German government to exert more pressure on Turkey to alleviate the situation.

The Turkish judges rejected an appeal by Tolu to return to home to Germany with her husband and three-year-old son. Although the journalist was released from her duty to report regularly to Turkish authorities, she is now likely to be trapped in Turkey for at least several months as the next court session in her case is not scheduled until Oct. 16.

Following the rejection of her plea, Tolu attacked the decision as a "political verdict" and "chicanery". The renewed ban on leaving the country meant that she "would continue to be prevented from having a normal routine" in her life.

As one of several German citizens detained by Turkish authorities in the wake of failed military coup, Tolu was first arrested at her Istanbul flat in April 2017 on suspicion of belonging to the far-left MLKP group. MLKP is classified as a terrorist organization in Turkey.

Earlier, Ankara had assured Berlin that it would prioritize the resolution of several legal cases involving German citizens. Enditem