7 LAWYERS WERE ARRESTED IN IZMIR
14 of the detained 35 lawyers in Izmir on 22nd September were referred to Izmir Courthouse on 27th of September. While 2 lawyers were released after gave their (defence) statements to the prosecutor, 12 lawyers were referred to the peace criminal judge for arrest. 5 lawyers -M.Ö, S.O, F.A, L.B. and M.D.- were arrested with charge of being member of armed terrorist organisation. Other 8 lawyers were released with probation.
The remaining 21 lawyers were referred to Izmir Courthouse on 28th September and 2 more lawyers -A.F.T, A.Ç- were arrested with charge of being member of armed terrorist organisation and 19 lawyers were released with probation today.
Thus, 7 lawyers were arrested in Izmir in the last week. As of today, a total of 94 lawyers, including the arrested 43 and the wanted 13 lawyers, are under prosecution in Izmir.
3 LAWYERS WERE ARRESTED IN ISPARTA
3 of the 4 lawyers taken into custody in the province of Isparta on Tuesday were arrested on 28th September.
While lawyers L.E, I.A.S. and H.E.S were arrested, C.K. was released with probation.
4 lawyers were taken into custody after the search warrant executed in their offices and residences on Tuesday.
As of today, a total of 10 lawyers, -including the arrested 8 lawyer- are under prosecution in Isparta.
With this last two waves of crackdown against lawyers, number of lawyers under criminal prosecution raised to 1390; 551 of them have been arrested.
Weekly Report: The Persecution On Turkish Lawyers (18-24 September)
Situation in Turkey
As of 27th September 2017, 551 lawyers have been arrested (since 15th July 2016) and 1390 lawyers are under prosecution. Some of the arrested lawyers were subjected torture and ill-treatment.
14 of detained or arrested lawyers are the presidents or former presidents of provincial bars associations.
There has been a relentless campaign of arrests which has targeted fellow lawyers across the country. In 77 of Turkey’s 81 provinces, lawyers have been detained and arrested on trumped-up charges as part of criminal investigations orchestrated by the political authorities and conducted by provincial public prosecutors.
So far; Erzincan 2nd High Penal Court sentenced lawyers Cemalettin Ozer and Talip Nayir who are (respectively) former president of Erzincan Bar Association and former board member of association 8 years 9 month and 10 years and Eskisehir 2nd High Penal Court sentenced 11 lawyers to range 4 to 12 years imprisonment.
All persecuted lawyers are being charged with terror linked offences such as being member of armed terrorist organisation or to run armed terrorist organisation. Pursuant to Turkish Penal Code, these two offences require 7,5 to 22,5 years imprisonment.
In addition to these lawyers, at least 149 public (gov’t) attorneys & legal advisers, 108 law schools academics were dismissed with emergency decrees, most of them were also detained or arrested. As the most recent ring of Erdogan’s persecution chain, nine respected human rights defenders including the chair and director of Amnesty International Turkey Branch were arrested.
The Turkish government has also targeted Turkish lawyers’ right to association. 34 different lawyers’ societies or associations have been shut down since the declaration of the state of emergency. Following their closing down by a government decree, all their assets have also been confiscated without compensation.
Also, 5218 judges and prosecutors were dismissed and they were subsequently arrested. There are still 2600 judges and public prosecutors in prison with nearly 680 of them in solitary confinement.
According to The World Justice Project’s annual report entitled “Rule of Law Index 2016″, Turkey is on 99th rank amongst 113 countries. Turkey is on 105th rank in terms of “fundamental rights” and on 108th rank in terms of “constraints on government powers” amongst 113 countries.
Categories: Situation in Turkey