Turkish teacher Mustafa Emre Çabuk has been freed on bail by a Georgian court, according to a Monday tweet by Rebecca Harms, member of the European Parliament and co-president of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly.
“Today court will decide on the future of teacher Mustafa Emre Cabuk. I hope he returns to his family and can teach his students in #Georgia asap,” Harms had tweeted earlier in the day, later adding, “GOOD NEWS: My colleague MP Tamar Khulordava from Georgia just wrote me that Mustafa is free on bail. I am very happy for him, his family and for #Georgia.”
Çabuk, a Turkish school administrator who was arrested by Georgian authorities last year at the request of the Turkish government, faces extradition to Turkey due to his alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement, accused by the Turkish government of orchestrating a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016.
Harms has twice visited Çabuk in jail and has taken up the matter of Turkey exerting political pressure on Georgia for his extradition with authorities in Tbilisi.
During her most recent trip to Georgia earlier this month, Harms also met with Çabuk’s wife and lawyer and urged Georgian authorities not to extradite Çabuk since in Turkey he will not be accorded a fair trial or due process.