In the show Gezi Park trial, lawyer Can Atalay, member of Istanbul Bar Association and six other defendants were sentenced to 18 years in prison, while human rights defender Osman Kavala was sentenced to life imprisonment on 25 April 2022.
The 13th Istanbul Assize Court convicted seven individuals including lawyer Can Atalay for “attempting to overthrow the government” under Article 312/1 of the Turkish Penal Code.
In a statement, the International Observatory for Lawyers said “This verdict not only contradicts the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights, which condemned Turkey for violating Osman Kavala’s right to freedom, imprisoned “with the aim of silencing him”, but also exposes once again the lack of independence and impartiality of the judicial system in Turkey, which has been repeatedly criticised by European bodies.
In the midst of the war in Ukraine, Turkey is once again defying its Western partners who are calling for compliance with the decisions of the ECHR and the European Convention on Human Rights.”
According to data collected by the Arrested Lawyers Initiative since 2016, Turkey has convicted 529 lawyers and sentenced them to 3242 years over overly broad anti-terrorism provision.
Categories: Unjust / Wrongful Convictions