Richmond Park Schools principal Fatih Keskin told N1 on Monday evening that he has no idea why he was arrested and declared a threat to national security, thanking all those who supported him throughout the past 15 days while he was held at an immigration centre.
“I am thankful to our students, the parents and other schools and colleagues who gave me full support. Thank you all, I am satisfied because the Court freed me. I thank the lawyers,” he told N1 as he was leaving the immigration centre.
Keskin, a Turkish citizen residing in Bosnia for the past 20 years, was arrested on December 3 after speaking to the police of the Una-Sana Canton in northern Bosnia. The school where he worked said he was not allowed to contact his attorney immediately.
The arrest sparked numerous reactions as it raised suspicions that Keskin was being persecuted for political reasons and that Bosnian authorities were planning to send him to Turkey where he would be put under arrest as part of the country’s crackdown on FETO.
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“We have no reason to doubt that Fatih Keskin was arrested for political reasons, more specifically, on a private order by Turkey's President personally, Erdogan – under the same principle under which 21,000 educators in Turkey were suspended and most of them were arrested without any trial. Erdogan's regime wants to work here among us as well,” the liberal Nasa Stranka political party said after Keskin was taken away.
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) shared that opinion.
“The SDP BiH wants to clearly and openly emphasise that, in the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, laws, constitutions and rules of foreign countries will not be applied or imposed, be it Turkey, Serbia, Croatia or any other country,” the party said.
“We claim that this persecution was agreed at the political level, which should have resulted in the actual abduction of Mr Keskin and his urgent deportation to the Republic of Turkey, where he would be imprisoned without any rights,” One of Keskin’s lawyers, Nedim Ademovic, told N1 on Thursday.
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday annulled a decision by the Security Ministry and the Foreigners’ Affairs Service on placing Keskin under surveillance.
“Fatih Keskin's appeal has been accepted, while both the final and first-instance decision of the Security Ministry and the Foreigners’ Affairs Service, based on which Keskin was put under surveillance in the Immigration Centre, have been annulled,” the ‘Ademovic, Nozica and partners’ legal team said, adding that the case has been returned to the first-instance bodies.
Bosnia’s Presidency Chairman, Zeljko Komsic, welcomed the decision.
“The laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina are and will be applied in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” he said.
Keskin was happy as he was leaving the immigration centre on Monday. Numerous friends waited for him outside.
He said he has no idea why he ended up in that situation.
“I don’t know. One day they came and brought me over here, I truly don’t know,” he said.
N1 asked Keskin whether he had any contacts with Fethullah Gülen.
“I had no contact whatsoever, I am just a normal school principal. Today was the 15th day that I have been kept here and it was difficult,” he said.
