UPDATE 1-Turkish police arrest journalist Altan a week after his release

Turkish police detained prominent journalist and author Ahmet Altan late on Tuesday, drawing strong criticism internationally, a week after he was released from prison following his retrial on coup-related charges. Before his release last Monday, the 69-year-old had been in jail since he was arrested in 2016, two months after an attempted coup which Ankara says was orchestrated by the network of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.

The journalist's case has drawn criticism from human rights groups and Turkey's Western allies. They are concerned by the scale of a post-coup crackdown against suspected Gulen supporters under President Tayyip Erdogan. "Law has been buried under concrete," Altan's lawyer Figen Calikusu wrote on Twitter, describing Altan's renewed detention as unlawful.

Altan smiled and waved as he was driven away by counter-terrorism police officers after being taken from his home in Istanbul, video, and photos published by Turkish media showed. He was taken to Istanbul police headquarters after a hospital check-up, state-owned Anadolu news agency reported. An Istanbul court was expected to rule later Wednesday whether to send him back to jail.

Altan, his brother, and other journalists were previously sentenced to life in jail for aiding Gulen's network. Last week he was convicted again in a retrial, but released from jail given the time served. Altan and the others deny the charges against them.

On Tuesday a higher court overruled the decision to release Altan, ordering his arrest given the gravity of the crimes and the risk of him fleeing, Anadolu reported. "I am appalled by this decision," said Harlem Desir, media freedom representative of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe). "This is a terrible setback and can only deepen the media freedom crisis in the country. I call for the decision to be reversed," he said.

The PEN International writers' association described his arrest as "a dark day for justice in Turkey". Under last week's verdict, Altan was sentenced to 10 years and six months in jail. Turkey's high court had overturned the previous life sentences against him in July.

"If you want to keep me in jail you can hold me as long as you like, prison does not scare me," Altan said in his defense before last week's verdict. "I would rather complete my life in prison than be scared of such a government." Altan's prison memoir "I Will Never See the World Again" has been nominated for the Baillie Gifford Prize for non-fiction.

Turkey has jailed more than 77,000 people since the failed putsch, in which 250 people were killed when rogue soldiers commandeered tanks, warplanes, and helicopters in a bid to seize power. Arrests of suspected Gulenists are still routine. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, and his followers deny any involvement in the coup.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)