Human rights defender Enes Hocaoğulları was placed in arbitrary pre-trial detention on 5 August after being detained at Ankara Esenboğa Airport upon his return to Türkiye from a Council of Europe conference in Strasbourg. He is charged with ‘publicly disseminating misleading information’ and ‘inciting the public to hatred and enmity’ under an indictment dated 8 August. The charges are based solely on a short speech he delivered on 27 March at the 48th session of the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, where he spoke about rights violations during mass protests following the detention the Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in the previous week. He must be immediately and unconditionally released. No one should be prosecuted for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression and speaking out against human rights violations.