February 8, 2024 - 17
organisations, including the
Observatory, condemn the
detention of lawyers Didem Baydar Ünsal, Berrak Çağlar, Seda
Şaraldı and Betül Vangölü Kozağaçlı, members of the
Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD), following a raid on their
office in Istanbul on February 6, 2024.
On February
6, 2024, following an armed attack on the largest court building
(Çağlayan Courthouse) in Istanbul, two assailants were shot dead by
the police. According to police sources, the attackers were members
of the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C).
Following
this attack, several offices of various organisations were raided and
ransacked by police forces in Istanbul. Among them is the People's
Law Office, where four lawyers, members of ÇHD, were detained. Didem
Baydar Ünsal, Berrak Çağlar, Seda Şaraldı
and Betül
Vangölü Kozağaçlı
have since remained in custody in Vatan Police Headquarters awaiting
to be transferred to the courthouse.
The
detained lawyers have been
denied access to their lawyers for 24 hours following their
detention. Due to the confidentiality order on the case file,
colleagues acting as defence counsel are also unable to access to the
content of the file. Such restrictions to the
defence rights rule out the possibility of knowing the ongoing
accusations against these lawyers and the reasons behind the raid of
their office.
The
People’s Law Office also includes lawyers Selçuk
Kozağaçlı,
Barkın
Timtik,
Aytaç
Ünsal
and Oya
Aslan,
who have been imprisoned for years, as well as 18 other accused
lawyers. Given that the office has often defended alleged members and
supporters of the DHKP-C in criminal proceedings, these fellow
lawyers have already been accused of being members or supporters of
the DHKP-C themselves. This unacceptable identification of the
lawyers with their clients also seems to be the reason for February 6
attack on the People's Law Office.
For
the above reasons, the undersigned organisations urge the authorities
in Turkey to:
1.
Immediately and unconditionally release lawyers Didem Baydar Ünsal,
Berrak Çağlar, Seda Şaraldı and Betül Vangölü Kozağaçlı.
2.
Take all necessary measures to guarantee the rights to due process,
legal defence and access to justice in the case of Didem Baydar
Ünsal, Berrak Çağlar, Seda Şaraldı and Betül Vangölü
Kozağaçlı.
3.
Guarantee,
in all circumstances, that all lawyers in Turkey are
able to carry out their legitimate professional activities without
fear of reprisals, and
free of all undue restrictions, including judicial harassment,
arbitrary arrest, deprivation of liberty or other arbitrary
sanctions, in compliance with
the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, adopted
in Havana in 1990.
The listed
organisations remind the Court and the Turkish authorities that the
world is watching.
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