Lawyer Taner Kilic who is chair of Amnesty International Turkey branch and other 22 lawyers were taken into custody on 6th June 2017, in Izmir. Then, Taner Kilic and 15 other lawyers were arrested and 6 lawyers were released with judicial control rule.
Only a month later, on 5th July 2017; 12 human rights defenders were taken into custody during a HRs workshop at a hotel in Buyukada, Istanbul. The eight (of 12) human rights defenders, İdil Eser (Amnesty International), Günal Kurşun and Veli Acu (Human Rights Agenda Association), Özlem Dalkıran (Citizens’ Assembly), Ali Gharavi (IT strategy consultant), Peter Steudtner (non-violence and wellbeing trainer), Nalan Erkem (Citizens Assembly) and İlknur Üstün (Women’s Coalition) have been arrested on 18th and 22nd of July 2017.
Lawyer Mr. Kilic has been wrongly accused of “membership of the armed terrorist organization” and other 8 HRs defenders have been imprisoned on the unfounded suspicion of “committing a crime in the name of a terrorist organization.”
Amnesty International irritates Erdogan Regime with its reports and urgent action campaigns on the human rights violations being committed during post coup purge.
Turkey has locked these activists and other 522 lawyers up, just when they are needed most: when the independent media has been silenced, speaking out comes at a high cost and people are living in fear. Every day that they are detained, the people they speak up for are left vulnerable to the government’s ongoing crackdown on freedoms.
Amnesty International runs worldwide campaign for 9 HRs defenders jailed in Turkey.
#FreeRightsDefenders #FreeLawyers
Categories: Situation in Turkey