70-Year-Old Prayer Leader Arrested in Turkey
According to Zaman daily, 34 male and female members of the mosque where Yusuf Sona leads prayers have also been detained.
Six months ago, Yusuf and his son had been taken into custody and released after ten days.
His lawyer criticized the recent arrest, saying he is only a prayer leader who serves at the mosque voluntarily.
There has been a crackdown on suspected dissidents in Turkey since a failed coup attempt in 2016.
Rights activists say the coup attempt is being used as a pretext by the government to quash opposition across the nation.
Turkish officials insist that opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has lived in the US state of Pennsylvania since 1999, was the mastermind of the unsuccessful coup attempt in July 2016.
Over 50,000 people have so far been jailed pending trial for suspected ties to Gulen’s movement, while nearly 150,000 individuals have also been fired or suspended from jobs in the public and private sectors in the purge.
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