Aunt of death-fasting arrested lawyer Ebru Timtik arrested as well

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Ebru Timtik is an arrested lawyer from the Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD), she has been on a death fast for her right to a fair trial.

Sultan Kaya, her maternal aunt, joined a protest in solidarity with Timtik. Opening a banner there, she was detained for "propagandizing for an organization." However, the İstanbul 11th Penal Judgeship of Peace has ruled that she shall be arrested for "membership of an organization."

Hasan Basri Yıldız, who was protesting with Sultan Kaya, has also been arrested by the penal judgeship of peace.

Kaya and Yıldız were taken into custody yesterday (June 30) after they opened a banner in front of the house of President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in İstanbul.

They have been arrested after being held in custody for 24 hours.

When they staged a protest before, they faced a penal action for "violating the Law no. 2911 on Meetings and Demonstrations."

Making a statement about the issue, the People's Law Bureau (HHB) has said, "Sultan Kaya has been arrested just because she laid claim to her niece that she raised by herself and Hasan Basri Yıldız has been arrested just because he laid claim to his lawyers. Ebru Timtik's maternal aunt Sultan Kaya raised her voice for Ebru and Aytaç at different squares for weeks."

Going on a death fast for their right to a fair trial, arrested lawyers from the ÇHD Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal have been on a death fast for 181 and 150 days, respectively. Ebru Timtik has reportedly lost so much weight in this process that she now weighs as light as 41 kilos.

'I seek justice for my child'

In her defense at the judgeship, Sultan Kaya said, "I seek justice for my child. Ebru Timtik is my niece. I saw her three months after she went on a death fast, half of my child is gone. I wanted to go to the President, my child did no evil. My child is parentless, I did this protest because I am her family."

'Ebru Timtik was my attorney'

In his defense at the judgeship, Hasan Basri Yıldız also said that Ebru Timtik was previously his attorney. "She has been on a death fast for days. I did this protest because I feel sorry for that," he added.

Speaking about their judicial process, lawyer Yaprak Türkmen has also indicated that Kaya and Yıldız were referred to court to be arrested for "being members of an organization" without their depositions taken by the prosecutor's office. There was not even the name of an organization in the letter of referral, Türkmen has stated further.

Lawyer Güçlü Sevimli has also stated the following about the issue: "Sultan Kaya said that 'Timtik was a close relative and she did this protest because she felt sorry for her, adding that she had no former detention or lawsuit relating to an organization.' The criteria for the offense of organization membership and the verdicts of Court of Cassation are obvious. That Kaya demanded justice for her niece does not meet these criteria."

Concrete evidence: Social media

However, the İstanbul 11th Penal Judgeship of Peace has ruled that the two shall be arrested on the grounds that "after they were detained, their were claimed with organizational motives by social media accounts supporting the organization and, accordingly, there is concrete evidence suggesting strong criminal suspicion in terms of charged offense."

What happened?

Announcing its verdict in the lawsuit filed against ÇHD lawyers on March 20, the court ruled that the lawyers should be sentenced to 3 years, 1 month, 15 days to 18 years, 9 months in prison.

The 2nd Penal Chamber of the İstanbul Regional Court of Justice rejected the objections and sent the file to the Court of Cassation.

CLICK - Judge First Upheld the Sentence, Then Examined the File

The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office of the Court of Cassation expressed opinion that the prison sentences of all lawyers, except for the one given to lawyer Barkın Timtik, be upheld.

The letter of notification only indicated that the prison sentence of 18 years, 9 months given to Barkın Timtik for "establishing and leading an organization" as per the Article 314/1 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) should be overturned and he should also be penalized for "membership of an organization" like other lawyers.

The letter of notification issued by the prosecutor's office has been sent to the 16th Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation.

Lawyer Ebru Timtik, an executive of the ÇHD, and lawyer Aytaç Ünsal, a member of the ÇHD, have gone on a death fast for the right to a fair trial. (AS/SD)