The Arrested Lawyers Initiative has led a coalition of 17 international human rights and lawyers’ organizations urging Turkey’s Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç to immediately suspend the sentence of imprisoned lawyer Süleyman Yıldırım, who remains in critical condition in intensive care after undergoing heart surgery.
In a joint letter dated 3 October 2025, coordinated and initiated by the Arrested Lawyers Initiative (ALI) and co-signed by leading legal advocacy groups — including Avocats Sans Frontières (Belgium), Association Défense Sans Frontière–Avocats Solidaires (France), European Lawyers Foundation (Italy), European Criminal Bar Association (Netherlands), Human Rights Defenders e.V. (Germany), Human Rights Solidarity (United Kingdom), International Human Rights Advisors (United Kingdom), International Observatory for Lawyers in Danger (France), Lawyers Against Transnational Repression, Italian Federation for Human Rights (Italy), Justice Abroad (United Kingdom), Monitoring Committee on Attacks on Lawyers, International Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL), Solidarity With OTHERS (Belgium), The Arrested Lawyers Initiative (Belgium), Turkey Tribunal (Belgium) and Weltanwälte e.V. (Germany) — the signatories expressed “deep concern regarding the health and detention of lawyer Süleyman Yıldırım.”
Yıldırım, 57, a member of the Denizli Bar Association, has been in intensive care at Denizli State Hospital for nearly three weeks following major heart surgery. According to medical reports cited in the letter, he suffers from a blood clot in the heart, fluid in the lungs, and the risk of leg amputation. Doctors have warned that he is “not fit to remain in prison” and “cannot travel even for medical checkups.”
Despite these medical findings, the Istanbul Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK) has reportedly ordered that he be transported to Istanbul for further evaluation — a move that doctors in Denizli describe as life-threatening.
The letter warns that this insistence “disregards the medical opinion of local doctors” and “raises grave concerns of violations of Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights,” which protect the right to life and prohibit inhuman or degrading treatment.
Yıldırım was first arrested in 2017 and convicted in 2018 by the Denizli 2nd Assize Court of membership in an armed terrorist organization based on alleged ByLock use and ordinary banking transactions. He was detained again on 27 July 2025 after Turkey’s Court of Cassation upheld his conviction. His lawyers say he was arrested while receiving hospital treatment and subsequently denied medical care for nearly two months in Denizli T-Type Prison.
The signatories note that Yıldırım’s continued imprisonment contradicts the European Court of Human Rights Grand Chamber judgment in Yalçınkaya v. Turkey (2023), which ruled that reliance on ByLock data as conclusive evidence of organizational membership violates the European Convention.
The coalition — led by the Arrested Lawyers Initiative — called on the Turkish authorities to:
- Suspend Yıldırım’s sentence on medical grounds;
- Ensure compliance with his doctors’ recommendations in Denizli; and
- Guarantee that lawyers are not persecuted for their professional work.
Turkey’s Justice Ministry recorded over 419,000 inmates as of February 2025 — 37 percent above official capacity. Rights groups estimate that more than 1,400 prisoners are seriously ill, including hundreds in critical condition.
Yıldırım, a father of five, graduated from Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Law in 1991 and practiced in Acıpayam, Denizli. His ordeal highlights the ongoing crackdown on the legal profession in Turkey, where over 1,700 lawyers have been detained since 2016 and 550 sentenced to a total of 3,350 years in prison.
The joint letter concludes with an urgent appeal for the Turkish authorities to take “immediate steps to protect Mr. Yıldırım’s life and uphold the rule of law.”
Categories: International Advocacy