Former Turkish public prosecutor Ferhat Sarıkaya, who was recently disbarred and subsequently detained, was arrested on Thursday on charges of membership in the Gülen movement, which is labeled as a terrorist organization by the Turkish government.
Sarıkaya was disbarred by Turkey’s Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) last Thursday and was detained the following day as part of an investigation into the Gülen movement.
The Turkish government accuses the Gülen movement of masterminding a failed coup in 2016 and labels it a “terrorist organization,” although the movement strongly denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
Sarıkaya appeared before a judge at the Ankara Courthouse on Friday from where he was sent to jail.
In his testimony the former prosecutor, who was suspended in the aftermath of the failed coup attempt, denied having any links to the Gülen movement.
Sarıkaya came to public prominence in 2005 when he included the name of then-Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt in an indictment he drafted concerning the bombing of a bookstore in Hakkari’s Şemdinli district the same year. He was disbarred by the HSK in 2006 for indicting the army chief and was reinstated to his post in 2011.