A Turkish court has released from pretrial detention Dilruba Kayserilioğlu, who was arrested earlier this month for criticizing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over a ban on Instagram, the ANKA news agency reported on Thursday.
An investigation was launched into Kayserilioğlu on accusations of “publicly denigrating a segment of society” for her remarks criticizing Erdoğan and supporters of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) government in a street interview over the ban on Instagram, which was lifted after remaining in place for nine days.
Kayserilioğlu’s release from jail comes ahead of her court appearance scheduled for September 3, where she will face charges related to the interview.
Turkey on August 2 blocked access to Instagram without explanation after the Turkish presidency’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun, accused the Meta-owned US company of “impeding people from publishing messages of condolence for the martyr Haniyeh.”
Ismail Haniyeh, the political chief of the Palestinian group Hamas and a close ally of Erdoğan, was killed in Tehran on July 31 in an attack blamed on Israel.
Turkey lifted the ban on Instagram on the evening of August 10 after denying access to millions of users for nine days.
The arrest of Kayserilioğlu came after Ebubekir Şahin, chairman of Turkey’s broadcasting watchdog, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), last week issued a written statement in which he announced that the council was increasing its scrutiny of street interviews allegedly contributing to misinformation and “social conflict.”
The woman’s arrest has led to criticism from the opposition and even from the ranks of Erdoğan’s party.