Brazil court orders release of Gulen-linked businessman accused by Ankara of terrorism


Date posted: May 9, 2019

Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court ordered Tuesday the release of a Brazil-based Turkish businessman who was arrested over links to US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Ali Sipahi, a restaurant owner in Sao Paulo who has lived in Brazil for 12 years, faces charges in Ankara of belonging to a “terrorist organization” involved in the failed coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in July 2016, Brazil’s Supreme Court said.

Sipahi, 31, holds dual Turkish and Brazilian citizenship. He has been detained since early April awaiting a court hearing scheduled for May 3.

“The decision to revoke the imprisonment of an innocent citizen was an important step, and we will evaluate the next steps in the coming days,” Theo Dias, Sipahi’s lawyer, told AFP.

Brazil has yet to respond to Turkey’s extradition request, but there is no deadline for a decision.

Sipahi, who is married and has a child, is involved in the Brazil-Turkey Cultural Center (CCBT) and Turkey-Brazil Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which are connected to Gulen’s Hizmet (Service) movement.

Dias said his client has been targeted for depositing money in Turkish bank Asya, which has been linked to Gulen.

The case has caused “huge apprehension” in Brazil’s Turkish community, amid fears Erdogan may come after them next.

The extradition request is “clearly part of the international campaign that President Erdogan unleashed against sympathizers of the Hizmet movement and its leader Gulen,” Dias added.

Gulen, who lives in self-exile in the US state of Pennsylvania, is accused of ordering the attempted overthrow of Erdogan, but he strongly denies any involvement.

Ankara calls Hizmet a terrorist group, but followers insist they are part of a peaceful organization promoting moderate Islam and education.

Tens of thousands of people have been arrested by Turkey in the crackdown that followed the attempted coup, and the Turkish authorities have also brought back suspects in secret operations from foreign countries, including Ukraine and Kosovo.

Source: France 24 , May 5, 2019

Tags: | | | |


Related News

Opposition condemns Erdoğan’s vindictive remarks against Gülen movement

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s televised remarks on Wednesday night suggesting that the witch hunt against members of Gülen movement will show no sign of abating under the new government has drawn condemnation from opposition political parties.

Mother with disabled son and daughter detained over alleged coup involvement

Hatice Kökoğlu, the mother of a disabled son and a daughter, has reportedly been detained in Kütahya province over alleged links to the Gülen movement. However, the two disabled children were left alone after their mother was recently taken into custody as part of an investigation launched by the Kütahya Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Der Spiegel: Turkish consulate officials involved in spying activities not only in Germany

“The espionage agents around the Turkish religious authorities go beyond Germany,” the article read adding that “not only were the names of persons transmitted” but also activities by the Gülen movement-affiliated schools, day-care centers, cultural and student associations reported to Turkey.

Ongoing political raids against schools and businesses are unconstitutional

Inspectors from the tax, finance, fire, social security, environment and urbanization, food, agriculture and husbandry bureaus were brought to the school with Smuggling and Organized Crime Police while the students were in session. Such raids have occurred repeatedly across the educational institutions’ branches, along with other schools, on an almost daily basis.

Reach of Turkey’s Erdoğan spreading like fungus across U.S. – analysis

“Erdoğan’s regime is increasingly using connections with domestic-based U.S. Islamist groups, like Muslim American Society (MAS), Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) to exert political influence in the United States,” Anne-Christine Hoff, Dallas associate of the activist group Counter Islamist Grid, said in American Thinker on Sunday.

Political thunder from Turkey rumbles all the way to New Orleans

And how appalling that they should now be exposed to the atrocious anti-Muslim diatribes of a U.S. presidential candidate not all that different from Erdogan in his threats and his bigotry.

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

Debunking Erdoğan’s smear campaign against Gülen

UN Body Asks Immediate Release Of Arbitrarily Jailed Police Chief

Commentary: Abuses rampant in wake of Turkish coup

The genesis of the hatred against Gulen and the Hizmet Movement

Daily: Gov’t, watchdog attempted to sink Bank Asya

Turks are not cows

Turkey squandered historic opportunity to achieve democracy, says Gülen

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News