03/07/2020 | Writer: Kaos GL
Today, at the final hearing of this prosecution which should have never been opened, the only fair judgment will be the acquittal of all 11 human rights defenders without exception.
3 July 2020, Çağlayan Courthouse, Istanbul
Three years ago, during a routine civil society workshop in Büyükada island, human rights defenders were detained by police. Human rights defenders who spent many years defending human rights were targeted with baseless allegations and a smear campaign on TV and newspapers. In the shadow of a climate of fear, they were imprisoned without any lawful justification.
The indictment contained a number of absurd allegations. These baseless allegations that were consistently refuted with evidence in the hearings over the past three years were repeated in the prosecutor’s final opinion at the hearing on 27 November 2019. The prosecution, which is responsible by law to ensure the fairness of trials a and the protection of defendants’ rights, have requested instead, convictions for some of the defendants on the basis of disproven allegations. Prosecutors’ obligation is not to have the defendants convicted regardless, but to help reveal the truth.
Today, at the final hearing of this prosecution which should have never been opened, the only fair judgment will be the acquittal of all 11 human rights defenders without exception.
By taking into consideration the explicit and unacceptable flaws in the prosecutor’s opinion, we expect the court to the acquit all human rights defenders on trial in this case.
Amnesty International Turkey
Association of Lawyers for Freedom
Association for Monitoring Equal Rights
Citizens’ Assembly Turkey
Civic Space Studies Association
Civil Rights Defenders
Human Rights Association
Human Rights Agenda Association
Human Rights Foundation of Turkey
Initiative for Freedom of Expression
Kaos GL
Media and Law Studies Association
SPoD LGBTI+
Punto24 Association for Independent Journalism
Research Institute on Turkey
The Rights Initiative Association
Truth Justice Memory Center
Turkish-German Forum of Culture
Women's Coalition
Tags: human rights
