Bosnians Protest at Student’s Arrest in Turkish Crackdown


Date posted: June 6, 2018

Relatives, friends and neighbours of Selmir Masetovic, arrested in Turkey because of alleged links to the Gulenist movement, took to the streets of his hometown Gradacac to call for his release.

Around 100 Bosnians gathered on Monday in the town of Gradacac to protest about Turkey’s arrest of Selmir Masetovic, including the detained student’s relatives, friends, neighbours and the local mayor.

Masetovic, a 21-year-old student at the University of Usak, was arrested last month in the western Turkish city, accused of being part of a network led by exiled cleric Fetullah Gulen, who Ankara believes was behind the failed coup in the country in July 2016.

“My son Selmir is not a ‘Gulenist’,” his father Husein Masetovic was quoted as saying by IBNA.

“At the time of the coup in Turkey, my son was at home in Bosnia and Herzegovina and had nothing to do with the events there,” he added.

Masetovic said on Monday that his son has received legal assistance in Turkey and thanked a Bosnian businessman, who wants to remain anonymous, for agreeing to finance the student’s defence, but complained of a lack of information about the case.


Masetovic, a 21-year-old student at the University of Usak, was arrested last month in the western Turkish city, accused of being part of a network led by exiled cleric Fetullah Gulen. “At the time of the coup in Turkey, my son was at home in Bosnia and Herzegovina and had nothing to do with the events there,” his father Husein Masetovic was quoted as saying.


On Tuesday however, he told regional TV station N1 that he has now been in contact with his son by telephone.

“It is most important that we have come into contact, it is good that he is healthy,” he told N1.

He explained that his son told him that an investigation is ongoing, that he has denied any involvement in the alleged crime, and that he was not allowed to make a phone call earlier.

The mayor of Gradacac, Edis Dervisagic, visited the Masetovic family before attending Monday’s protest.

Dervisagic told media that the municipal board was convened last week and discussed ways of assisting the family.

“The municipality must find a way to help our fellow citizen Selmir Masetovic and his family. We will always be in contact with them,” Mayor Dervisagic was quoted as saying.

According to the prosecutor’s office in Usak, Masetovic was using Bylock, an encrypted messaging application which the Turkish authorities claim is utilised by Gulenists for secret conversations.

Having and using the Bylock app has been accepted by Turkish courts as evidence of being a member of Gulen’s movement. Ankara describes the movement as the ‘Fetullah Terrorist Organisaton’ or F..O.

Masetovic was among several foreign students in Turkey who were arrested.

Turkey’s pro-government Daily Sabah reported on May 28 that prosecutors believe that Gulen movement members “tricked students into buying cellphone accounts and gave them to their own members, apparently in a bid to avoid detection amid the escalated crackdown on the group after the July 15, 2016 coup attempt”.

“Fourteen students from various countries had two phone numbers each, and each one was used by the group’s members all across the country, according to prosecutors,” the newspaper said.

Gulen has denied any links to the failed coup and has asked an international commission to investigate the attempted overthrow of the government.

As well as the protesters in Gradacac on Monday, Bosnian opposition parties, NGOs and civil rights groups have also demanded that Masetovic be freed.


NOTE: This article was updated on June 5, 2018 to add that Masetovic has now been in telephone contact with his son.

 

Source: Balkan Insight , June 5, 2018


Related News

Had the Kurds believed in Said-i Kurdi, their children wouldn’t have died

Naim from Diyarbakir sent me a message. He says: “The Kurds would listen to you if you said something to them, because you’re coming from a leftist tradition. Evil powers like PKK and KCK can’t stand the approval for Gulen Movement’s service for Kurds.”

Bosnia and Herzegovina Court rules that Keskin must not be deported to Turkey

A court in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, reversed the decision to deport Turkish citizen Fatih Keskin, who faces a trial in his country for opposing the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Deputy PM Bülent Arınç says row with Hizmet movement would do no good

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç has commented for the first time on allegations that there are tensions between the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and the Hizmet movement, saying, “We don’t need to get into a verbal row that might hurt relations between the government and the movement; we don’t need it, it would hurt us.” He also said Erdoğan holds Gülen in esteem.

The Gülen community and the AKP

TAHA AKYOL The Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), which is in line with Fethullah Gülen, has issued an announcement on relations with the ruling party. It is certain that Gülen made the last retouches on the text himself. Gülen defines the movement shortly as “Hizmet” (translated roughly as “service” in English). I asked those who […]

Turkish festival brings students from 27 countries to Ethiopia

The International Turkish Education Association’s (TÜRKÇEDER) Language and Culture Festival, which brought together 95 students from 27 countries under the motto “Hearts United,” was held in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa over the weekend.

Hate Crime: Lists of “Gulen pupils” circulating in Amsterdam

Lists are circulating in Amsterdam containing the names of Turkish students in Amsterdam schools, with details on who supports Fethullah Gulen and Who Supports Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan. About 150 primary school students did not show up for school this week due to “intimidation and bullying” related to tensions in the Turkish community. The municipality deployed extra education inspectors to visit parents who are keeping their children home from school.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

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

In Case You Missed It

Fethullah Gulen among TIME’s “World’s 100 Most Influential People” for 2013

Iranian gold stars in Turkish corruption scandal

Peace ambassador students conquer hearts at European Parliament

Turkey overshadows war-hit Syria in number of academics seeking asylum elsewhere

‘Parallel’ lies won’t patch giant tear, Gülen tells government

“1915” by Prof. Ihsan Yilmaz (2)

Group of activists walking across Europe raises 40,000 euros for Turkish refugees in Greece

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News