February, 10 | Kayseri | LAWYER COUPLE WERE SENTENCED TO LONG IMPRISONMENT
Kayseri 2nd High Penal Court sentenced lawyer Suleyman Gurkok who was president of the shuttered law association named “Anadolu Hukuk Dernegi” eight years and nine months in prison, the court also sentenced his wife lawyer Sibel Gurkok to six years and 3 months in prison. Both lawyers were convicted of being the member of the armed terrorist organisation.
11 members of Kayseri Bar Association so far have been sentenced to long imprisonment because of sham terrorism accusations.
AYDIN | LAWYER YALCIN KAYAALTI WAS SENTENCED TO 9 YEARS IN PRISON
Aydin 2nd High Penal Court sentenced lawyer Yalçın Kayaaltı nine years in prison because of the identities on his clients. As reported by the local media, lawyer Mr Kayaalti was sentenced, because of representing some private companies who had being operating private schools and dormitories before shut down with the decree law.
As all unjustly convicted 94 lawyers, Kayaalti too was convicted of the felony of being the member of the armed terrorist organisation stipulated in article 314 of Turkish Penal Code.
ADIYAMAN | LAWYERS MEHMET C AND CUNEYT G WERE SENTENCED TO 12 AND 9 YEARS IN PRISON
Adiyaman 2nd High Penal Court sentenced lawyer Mehmet Canpolat to 12 years in prison on grounds of using the i-message app named Bylock. The Court also sentenced lawyer Göğüş to 9 years in prison on same reason. The Court convicted both lawyers for being the member of the armed terrorist organisation.
I-message app named Bylock has become the most common reason for detentions and (terrorism related) convictions since the failed coup attempt. The US-based think tank Freedom House, which has listed Turkey in his newly released report among the countries in which Internet freedoms are restricted most, stated that tens of thousands of Turkish citizens have been arbitrarily detained for their alleged use of the encrypted communications app ByLock. “Despite a lack of evidence, and the arbitrary nature of the blanket arrests, numerous users have been deemed guilty by association for simply downloading the app.” said the report.
European Union’s Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove described Bylock as circumstantial evidence and said that “You need not only circumstantial evidence – like just downloading an app – but concrete substantive data” to convict someone of terrorism.
“Despite Erdogan’s claims, it violates rights for Turkey to detain people for downloading a popular encryption app” said Ken Roth, director of the Human Rights Watch.
Fox IT which is Netherland based prominent forensic IT company, debunks (MIT) Turkish National Intelligence Agency’s report on BYLOCK app. “The investigation performed by Fox-IT contradicts the key findings of the MİT. Fox-IT also discovered inconsistencies in the MİT report that indicated manipulation of results and/or screenshots by MİT. What is more, Fox-IT found that the MİT investigation is fundamentally flawed due to the contradictory and baseless findings, lack of objectivity and lack of transparency. Fox-IT has read and written many digital investigation reports over the last 15 years. Based on this experience, Fox-IT finds the quality of the MIT report very low, especially when weighed against the consequences of the conclusions.” was said in the statement by Fox-IT after its forensic survey on the Turkish INTEL’s report on BYLOCK app.
GAZIANTEP | LAWYER OMER KAYAR WAS SENTENCED AND LAWYER KURTOGLU WAS TAKEN INTO CUSTODY.
Lawyer Omer Kayar was sentenced to six years and eight months. Gaziantep Court convicted lawyer Kayar of being the member of the armed terrorist organisation on the grounds of using the i-message app named Bylock.
Lawyer Deniz Kurtoglu who is a member of Gaziantep Bar Association and local politician for the main opposition party, CHP was taken into custody due to sharing Marian Kamensky’s cartoon about Erdogan. Lawyer Kurtoglu was released after a brief detention.
FEBRUARY, 9 | KAYSERI | FORMER LAW FACULTY DEAN WAS ARRESTED FOR TERRORISM ACCUSATION.
Law professor Murat Şen who was dean of the shuttered (by decree-law) Meliksah University Law Faculty was arrested with the charge of being the member of the armed terrorist organisation.
Categories: Unjust / Wrongful Convictions, Weekly Newsletters