Quoting a former detainee, the Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF) said Alettin Duman, a private school teacher who was extradited to Turkey in 2016 over charges that he was involved in the failed military coup that year, was beaten, tortured and threatened with staged executions.
The detainee, known only as S.T., had shared the cell with Duman in Ankara’s Sincan Prison.
SCF also quoted him as saying that foreign governments should not extradite Turkish nationals who are accused of terrorism, a charge frequently hurled at followers of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.
Gulen has been blamed by Ankara for the failed military coup against the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in July 2016.
The failed coup was followed by a major crackdown on dissent by the Erdogan government, including closing down newspapers and sacking civil servants. Tens of thousands were also arrested, including those linked to the many institutions run by the Gulen movement worldwide.
Duman was arrested alongside fellow Turkish Tamer Tibik by Malaysian police amid protests from rights activists who warned Putrajaya against aiding the clampdown by Erdogan.
Three other Turkish nationals, Turgay Karaman, Ismet Ozcelik and Ihsan Aslan, were also deported months later.
SCF, which has reported widespread torture and abuse cases in Turkish prisons and detention centres, said Malaysia was among several countries which had handed over academics and businessmen to Ankara.
“There have been other cases of attempted kidnapping in Malaysia as well according to reports received by SCF,” it said in its report.
It added that as of last year, nearly 56,000 people were arrested, and almost 170,000 people charged with taking part in the coup.