A Turkish court on Friday ordered the release of two students jailed for participating in protests against the government-appointed rector of one of Turkey’s top public universities.

Rights groups had called on Turkey to release Berke Gok and Perit Ozen, each of whom had spent more than three months behind bars on charges including violating Turkey’s law on demonstrations and preventing public officials from doing their jobs. 

Students at Istanbul’s Bogazici University launched protests in January 2021 after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appointed Melih Bulu, a loyalist with links to his ruling Justice and Development Party, to serve as the prestigious university’s rector. Erdogan’s critics said Bulu was unqualified and his appointment bypassed the university’s traditional election procedures. 

Nearly a thousand students were detained for their involvement in the youth-led protests and many lost their college scholarships. Rights organizations documented excessive force and targeted house raids against student protesters, who Erdogan likened to “terrorists."