Dozens of staff at a Turkish university have been given jail sentences of up to almost nine years over their alleged membership of a banned political group.

Sixty-four academics and university administrators from Pamukkale University, in south-west Turkey, were imprisoned on 12 May for allegedly belonging to the G¨¹len group, which is associated with the exiled Islamic preacher Fethullah G¨¹len, the human rights website reported.

G¨¹llen, a Pennsylvania-based cleric is blamed by the Turkish government for leading the attempted coup of July 2016, although he denies any involvement.

At a hearing of Denizli 5th?Penal Court, some 64 out of 115 suspects from Pamukkale University were jailed for between 18 months and eight years and nine months for membership of the G¨¹lenist movement.

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Meanwhile, a recent on human rights violations in the education sector by the Human Rights Association¡¯s Istanbul branch claimed that a total of 34,000 teachers have been dismissed since July 2016, while 5,882 academics and 1,372 administrative personnel at universities have been also sacked as part of the Turkish government¡¯s post-coup crackdown,

In a separate , 12 students from Abant Izzet Baysal University, in Bolu, near Istanbul, have been detained along with two teachers who were earlier dismissed from their jobs over their alleged ties to the G¨¹len movement on 17 May.

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The suspects are accused of using ByLock, an encrypted mobile app that Turkish prosecutors claimed was used by G¨¹len followers to communicate.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com