Embassies Embark on Diplomatic Moves for the Release of Detained Sierra Leonean in Turkey

Immigration Hostel
Immigration Hostel


Date posted: November 3, 2016

The Sierra Leone Embassies in Abu Dhabi and Tehran are closely following the status of their national who was detained in the Turkish capital, Ankara on Tuesday, 18 October, 2016.

David Junusa, a Sierra Leonean national who lives and works in Ankara was detained at the Kavaklidere Police Station in Ankara when he showed up to renew his expired residency permit.

Junusa, married to a Turkish national, studied in Ankara and after graduation, he has been working as an English teacher in different Turkish schools. But for the past four years, he was working at the recently closed Turgut Ozal University which allegedly belonged to the “Gulen Movement” – a movement led by US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara blames for the July 15 failed coup attempt in Turkey.

The detained Sierra Leonean was recently quoted by a Freetown –based local tabloid that he had an appointment on the 18th October to extend his residency permit and upon arrival, the paper further quoted him: “I was arrested and sent to the prison cell. I was told it was a direct order given by the president, to arrest and deport all foreigners working for those universities that were closed down by the government, and mine is one of them.”

Sierra Leone has no resident Ambassador in Turkey. The Sierra Leone Mission in Tehran – the Islamic Republic of Iran was covering Turkey over the past few years, but the Eurasian nation was recently transferred to the Embassy of Sierra Leone in the United Arab Emirates.

Consul General based in Ankara to secure the release of the detained Sierra Leonean.

Ambassador Timbo is yet to present his Letters of Credence since Turkey was transferred to his Mission. But he was quick to say that, as a Sierra Leone Ambassador, the speedy release of his compatriot remained his top priority.

“I am not only concerned about the welfare of Sierra Leoneans living in my areas of accreditation,” adding that, “I am also concerned about all my compatriots living in any part of the world.”

The soft-spoken diplomat says, he and his colleague in Tehran, Ambassador Almamy Amara Kamara, in consultations with the Foreign Ministry in Freetown, will continue to work diligently with the Turkish authorities through diplomatic channels to secure the release of their detained compatriot.

Latest reports from Turkey say, David Junusa was on Thursday, 27th October, 2016 transferred from the Kavaklidere Police Station to an Immigration Hostel in the city of Izmir – a city on Turkey’s Aegean coast.

Source: The Salone Monitor , November 1, 2016


Related News

Zaman journalists defy threat of arrest with heads held high

Scattered across a newsroom producing Turkey’s largest-circulating newspaper, the Zaman daily, journalists from the Feza Media Group remain confident while waiting for police officers to come and handcuff them.

Corruption scandal will consolidate Turkish democracy

” When all the dust settles in the aftermath of corruption, money laundering and racketeering involving higher-ups in the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), we will have the chance to lay the foundation for a democracy by consensus, which is the only way to rule a large country like Turkey with a relatively young population and rising middle class.”

Dozen people hold demonstration in front of Zaman to protest corruption coverage

The protestors held up a banner bearing the picture of Islamic Scholar Fethullah Gülen saying that he despises the Taliban and Osama bin Laden. “Pick up your traitorous comrades and your prep schools, and get out of here, go to Israel, the US,” the script at the bottom of the banner said. The protest followed a series of public remarks over the weekend by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who attacked Zaman without mentioning it by name.

Austria arrests two after arson attack on Turkish cultural center

Two suspects have been arrested in connection with an attempt to set fire to a Turkish cultural centre in the northern Austrian town of Wels, police said on Monday, at a time of heightened tension between Vienna and Ankara. The attack took place in early morning and the suspects, whom police declined to identify, were arrested immediately.

Graduation ceremony of Pak-Turk school held

Pak-Turk International School and College is the only institution in Quetta where the students get modern education. The schooling system should be launched in other districts of the province, so that more children could get education and increase the rate of literacy of the province.

Chronology of Dec. 17: The stones are settling into place…

İSTANBUL Dec. 17, 2013: On the morning of Dec. 17, Turkey wakes up to a bribery and corruption operation. Simultaneous operations in İstanbul and Ankara take place after an investigation that included allegations of land being opened up to illegal city zoning, bribery and money laundering. The operations, which are carried out on the orders […]

Latest News

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

Pro-gov’t columnist: Turkish state must assassinate Fethullah Gülen

Brazilian Intellectuals and Artists Defend Turk against Demands for Extradition to Turkey

Taraf, Baransu file criminal complaint against PM Erdoğan

Turkish ruling party’s targeting of the Gülen movement constitutes a crime against humanity

Erdoğan calls on people to show no mercy to Gülen movement

Africa pledges further cooperation with Turkey based on mutual respect

GYV gathers politicians, diplomats at iftar dinner in Turkish capital

Copyright 2023 Hizmet News