Famous Turkish singer and columnist Atilla Taş on Friday was released due to time already served after a court in Kocaeli province accepted an objection to his continued imprisonment, his lawyer announced on Twitter.
The announcement came from Yaman Akdeniz, who posted a photo of the singer, who had been released from Kocaeli prison few hours earlier.
Taş was sent to prison in November for a second time after a regional appeals court upheld a local court’s sentence of three years, one month and 15 days over Gülen links.
He wrote columns for the Meydan daily, an outlet affiliated with the Gülen movement, which was accused of orchestrating a coup attempt in July 2016, although it denies any involvement.
As part of a post-coup crackdown targeting followers and supporters of the movement, Taş was arrested in September 2016 on charges of “aiding a terrorist organization without being a member of it.”
After 14 months of pretrial detention, he was convicted by a court but released pending appeal.
Taş, who was also a member of the party council of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), produced a standup show after his release.