Turkeyes' Court orders to release hundreds of detained students from protest

Turkeyes courts on Thursday ordered the release of at least 107 students arrested during massive protests against the jailing of Istanbul's popular mayor, a lawyer told AFP. Nearly 2,000 people, including more than 300 students, have been arrested in a crackdown on the protests.

The largest demonstrations in Turkey in more than a decade- after the March 19 arrest of mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on graft charges. Imamoglu, a leading opposition figure, is the chief political rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Lawyers and politicians supportive of Imamoglu have slammed "police brutality" towards students arrested for taking part in the demonstrations. Two Istanbul courts ordered 107 students' release on Thursday, lawyer Ferhat Guzel told AFP.

The court also lifted house arrests ordered for 25 students, he added.

The majority of the young protesters, most of them aged about 20, were attending rallies for the first time in their lives but found themselves in the dock as a result, while their anxious parents looked on.

Turkan Ucar voiced happiness at the news as she travelled to Silivri, a huge prison complex on the outskirts of Istanbul, to welcome her 24-year-old son Ridvan who was arrested during last month's rallies.

"I am very happy, just like other mothers," she told AFP briefly. "We passed through really bad days". With the system overwhelmed, family and friends were often left in the dark when their children were first arrested, as they did not know where they were initially being held.

Many of the parents spent Eid al-Fitr the holiday marking the end of Ramadan without their children. The arrest of students also became a political dispute between Erdogan's government and Imamoglu's main opposition CHP party.

Erdogan on Wednesday accused the opposition party of "darkening" the lives of young people.