Turkey Arrests 6 Human Rights Activists

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A Turkish court ruled Tuesday that six human rights activists, including Amnesty International's Turkey director, be formally arrested after weeks of detention for having aided a terror group.

It was not clear which terror organization they are suspected of helping.

Amnesty International condemned the decision, calling it a "new low in Turkey's post-coup crackdown" and a "politically motivated witch hunt".

"Today we have learned that standing up for human rights has become a crime in Turkey," Salil Shetty, Amnesty International's secretary-general, said in a statement Tuesday.

"This is a moment of truth, for Turkey and for the international community."

Amnesty's Turkey director, Idil Eser, Ilknur Ustun of the Women's Coalition, and others were detained by police in Istanbul on June 5 while attending a workshop, and were denied access to a lawyer or the right to contact their family members for 28 hours, according to Amnesty International.

Ustun and three others have been released from custody, but are barred from traveling abroad and required to regularly report to police.

The German government spoke out against the arrests, identifying one of the detainees as German trainer Peter Steudtner.

"We stand in solidarity with Peter Steudtner whose detention in Turkey is unjustified and will advocate for him on all levels," Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert tweeted.