ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A court on Monday released a Turkish human rights and LGBTQ+ activist from prison, pending an outcome of his trial on charges of spreading disinformation and inciting public hatred.

Enes Hocaogullari, 23, was detained last month after delivering a speech at a meeting of the Council of Europe that was critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.

He took part at a session of Europe’s leading human rights body in Strasbourg, France, as one of Turkey’s youth delegates. There he criticized the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and other opposition figures. The activist also spoke out against alleged police violence during protests that erupted following Imamoglu’s arrest.

In the first hearing of his trial in Ankara, Hocaogullari rejected the charges against him, insisting he had not been involved in “any illegal activity.”

“I used my freedom of expression. I am innocent,” Hocaogullari told the court before requested his acquittal, according to the independent MLSA website, which monitors human rights trials.

The court ordered his release from custody on condition that he regularly report to police.

The activist was detained at Ankara’s Esenboga airport in August and later charged with “publicly disseminating misleading information” and “inciting hatred and enmity among the public,” prompting criticism from the Council of Europe.

Marc Cools, president of a delegation of the Council of Europe’s local and regional authorities congress, who visited Hocaogullari last week at his prison in Ankara, welcomed his release but called on Turkish authorities to drop all charges against him.

The trial was adjourned until Feb. 23.

Imamoglu, a popular opposition figure seen as the main rival to Erdogan in the presidential election, was arrested in March over allegations of corruption, which he strongly denies. He was officially nominated as the presidential candidate for the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, following his imprisonment.

Several other CHP mayors and municipal employees have also been arrested as part of investigations into alleged corruption. The CHP denies the accusations.