|
The
Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT), along with the
undersigned organisations strongly condemn the arbitrary detention of
lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan, defence counsel to detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem
İmamoğlu, and the intensifying reprisals against members of the legal
profession in Turkey.
Paris - Geneva, 2 July 2025 -
The undersigned international legal and human rights non-governmental
organisations strongly condemn the arbitrary detention of lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan,
defence counsel to detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, and the
intensifying reprisals against members of the legal profession in
Turkey. These measures, targeting lawyers for their professional
activity and for exercising their right to freedom of expression,
constitute a direct attack on human rights and the rule of law and they
imped access to justice.
I. Targeting, prosecution and detention of lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan
Lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan, a member of the Istanbul Bar Association and
defence counsel to detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, has been
subjected to a sustained pattern of judicial persecution since early
2025. He was arrested by police and accused of alleged “money
laundering” (Article 282 of the Penal Code) based on vague and
unsubstantiated allegations. He was released under judicial control on
28 March 2025, including a travel ban that obstructed his ability to
carry out international legal work.
In March and April 2025, he was targeted again after publicly
criticising a report issued by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK)
which led to the annulment of his client Mr İmamoğlu’s university
diploma, a decision which, if finalised, would bar him from running for
president. Mr Pehlivan denounced the report as baseless and unlawfully
drafted based on concealed documents and withheld information. In March,
three members of YÖK who signed this report filed a criminal complaint
against Mr Pehlivan. This led the Istanbul Public Prosecutor to open a
new criminal investigation and invite him for questioning in April,
based on multiple allegations, including “insult” and “attempting to
influence a fair trial” (Articles 125 and 288 of the Penal Code). The
charges carry a potential sentence of imprisonment of over 13 years.
In May 2025, pro-government media reports claimed that - based on the
statement of an individual who decided to cooperate with the
prosecuting authorities with a view of obtaining a reduction in
punishment under the “effective remorse” provision (etkin pişmanlık) -
Mr Pehlivan and Kemal Polat, another defence lawyer of
Mr İmamoğlu, were under investigation for the alleged offence of
“attempting to coerce witnesses” (Article 277 of the Penal Code).
On 19 June 2025, following a call from the Istanbul Public
Prosecutor’s Office, Mr Pehlivan voluntarily went to the Istanbul
Courthouse where he was informed that a criminal investigation had been
opened against him. He reminded the Prosecutor that, pursuant to Article
58 of Turkey’s Attorneyship Law, authorisation from the Ministry of
Justice was required to proceed. The Prosecutor dismissed this and
requested his pre-trial detention from a judge. Mr Pehlivan was
subsequently remanded into pre-trial detention on alleged charges of
“membership in a criminal organisation” (Article 220(2) of the Penal
Code), based solely on his legitimate coordination of legal defence
strategies, a core element of legal representation.
Since the imprisonment of Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in March, Mr Pehlivan
has been subjected to a sustained harassment in pro-government media,
attacking both his professional and personal integrity. To date, no
evidence of coercion, violence, or otherwise unlawful conduct on his
part has been presented. The latest prosecution was initiated without
the required authorisation from the Ministry of Justice under Article 58
of Attorneyship Law, a safeguard intended to prevent politically
motivated prosecutions of lawyers for acts carried out in connection
with their professional duties.
The targeting of lawyers representing Mr İmamoğlu or others
professionally involved in the same criminal proceedings, including
lawyers Kemal Polat, Serkan Günel, Kazım Yiğit Akalın, and Yiğit Gökçehan Koçoğlu,
since March strongly indicates a pattern of interference designed to
hinder this group of lawyers in the legitimate exercise of their
professional activities and to undermine the right to a fair trial of
their clients.
II. Continuing reprisals against the legal profession and their professional associations
The case of Mr Pehlivan and others is not isolated; it is part of a
broader, systematic campaign to target legal professionals across
Turkey, a pattern that two joint statements issued by members of the
international legal and human rights community have previously
addressed:
The Istanbul Bar Association is facing both civil and criminal
proceedings for its December 2024 public statement calling for an
independent investigation into the killings of two journalists from
Turkey working for Kurdish media outlets in Syria. Prosecutors have
charged the President İbrahim Kaboğlu and ten executive
board members of the Istanbul Bar Association with alleged “terrorist
propaganda” and “disseminating misleading information,” seeking up to 12
years’ imprisonment and political bans. In parallel, a civil lawsuit
seeks their dismissal under Article 77(5) of the Attorneyship Law.
Istanbul Bar Association board member Fırat Epözdemir
was arbitrarily detained pending trial on 25 January 2025 on his return
from an advocacy visit to the Council of Europe. He was held in
pre-trial detention until 29 May 2025 and remains under judicial
control.
Since the March 2025 protests - started after the arrest of
Mr İmamoğlu - dozens of lawyers, including the former President of the
İzmir Bar Association, have been arrested for their support for the
protestors and their efforts to provide legal assistance to them.
Lawyers have been prevented from accessing their detained clients;
they have been denied entry into courthouses; and have been informed
that key hearings took place in their absence. In some instances, the
authorities have refused to confirm the identities, whereabouts and
current locations of their detained clients, giving rise to serious
concern that they have been subjected to enforced disappearance.
Acts of reprisal against lawyers reflect a systemic effort by the
authorities to undermine the independence of lawyers and bar
associations, intimidate those engaged in human rights defence, and
obstruct access to justice for political detainees and civil society
actors.
III. Incompatibility with international legal standards
The targeting of Mr Pehlivan, the Istanbul Bar Association, and
numerous other lawyers violates a range of binding international human
rights standards.
Lawyers must not face harassment or sanctions for actions taken in
line with their professional duties (UN Basic Principles on the Role of
Lawyers, Principle 16; Council of Europe Committee of Ministers
Recommendation no. R(2000)21, Principle I, paras. 1 and 4; Council of
Europe Convention for the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer,
Article 9).
They must be able to exercise their rights to freedom of expression,
association and peaceful assembly, and must not be identified with their
clients or their clients’ causes (UN Basic Principles, Principles 23
and 18; CoE Convention on Lawyers, Articles 7 and 6).
Bar associations and lawyers’ professional organisations must be
independent and self-governing and must be able to speak publicly on
legal and human rights issues without fear of reprisal or dissolution
(UN Basic Principles, Principle 24; CoE Recommendation, Principle V; CoE
Convention on Lawyers, Articles 4 and 7).
The baseless criminal investigations, prosecutions and arbitrary
detention of Mr Pehlivan, other lawyers, and the judicial harassment of
members of the Istanbul Bar Association violate these guarantees and
threaten the institutional integrity and independence of the legal
profession in Turkey. They also undermine the rights to freedom of
expression, association, peaceful assembly, and the right to a fair
trial, in breach of Articles 19, 22, and 14 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Articles 10, 11, and 6 of the
European Convention on Human Rights to which Turkey is a state party.
IV. Call to action
We, the undersigned legal and human rights organisations, call for immediate and coordinated action:
To the Government of Turkey:
- Immediately and unconditionally
release Mehmet Pehlivan, and drop all charges and proceedings arising
from his carrying out his professional activities or exercising his
right to freedom of expression or peaceful exercise of his human rights;
- Cease all legal and
administrative actions against the Istanbul Bar Association and other
bar associations engaging in rights-based advocacy;
- End the intimidation and
politically motivated and arbitrary prosecution of lawyers, their
arbitrary detentions, as well as travel bans and surveillance against
them;
- Ensure compliance with Article 58
of the Attorneyship Law and respect international standards protecting
legal professionals and their associations.
To the United Nations, Council of Europe and European Union:
- Publicly condemn the detention of Mr Pehlivan and the broader pattern of reprisals against lawyers in Turkey;
- Engage the Turkish authorities
through all available diplomatic and monitoring mechanisms to demand
respect for the legal profession;
- Initiate urgent communications, conduct monitoring, and consider dispatching observation missions to Turkey;
- Support independent bar
associations and human rights lawyers through trial observation, legal
assistance, and international advocacy.
We stand in full solidarity with Mehmet Pehlivan, the Istanbul Bar
Association and all other legal professionals in Turkey defending human
rights and the rule of law. Their prosecution is not only an attack on
their individual liberty but a threat to justice and the rule of law
itself.
|
