A Turkish court on Thursday jailed on terror charges 14 lawyers representing two detained teachers who have been on hunger strike for six months after being sacked in a mass crackdown. The case of Nuriye Gulmen and Semih Ozakca has become a rallying cause for critics of the purge that followed a failed bid in July 2016 to topple President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

More than 140,000 public sector employees have been suspended or sacked under a state of emergency imposed after the attempted putsch. The pair began a hunger strike in March, were jailed on terror charges in May and went on trial on September 14 but were not present in court amid growing concerns over their health.

Sixteen lawyers from the Office of People's Rights (HHB) that represents them were initially detained two days before the start of the trial, raising questions over the timing. After questioning, an Istanbul court ordered 14 of the lawyers to be imprisoned on charges of "membership of an armed terror group." Two were allowed to go free. They are accused of links to the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), an outlawed Marxist group that has carried out sporadic attacks.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2017