Ebru Timtik's sister not allowed at her funeral, people's march prevented

What happened?

Drawing: Gianluca Costantini

In the trial of the Proggrssive Lawyers' Association (ÇHD), Ebru Timtik was sentenced to 13 years 6 months in prison Aytaç Ünsal to 10 years, 6 months last March for "membership of a terrorist organization" based on statements by a witness, who later stated that his testimony shouldn't be taken into account due to his mental condition. Together with Timtik and Ünsal, the court sentenced 18 ÇHD lawyers to a total of 159 years in prison.

The appeals court, which upheld the lawyers' sentences in October 2019, was revealed to give the verdict without reviewing lawyers' appeal.

After this trial process, Timtik and Ünsal started hunger strikes on January 2 and February 2, respectively, and eventually turned their strike into a death fast, which Ünsan still continues.

Timtik and Ünsal were forcibly hospitalized on July 30 after the court refused to release them despite a Forensic Medicine Institution report stating that they were "not in a state to stay in prison.

Timtik was held in the Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital in İstanbul's Bakırköy district and Ünsal is currently held in Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Training and Research Hospital in the Küçükçekmece district. Both hospitals are "pandemic hospitals."

The case filed against the lawyers of the Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD) is still pending the final verdict of the Court of Cassation.

An application was made to the Constitutional Court for arrested lawyers Timtik and Ünsal on August 10, 2020.

The application to the supreme court noted that "while they should have been released based on the reports prepared by the Forensic Medicine Institution, they were unjustly and unlawfully arrested and their health conditions were deteriorating in hospital conditions where they were held."

Within this context, the attorneys of Ünsal and Timtik requested that the Constitutional Court write an official letter to the local court, ordering the release of arrested lawyers as a precaution.

Rejecting death fasting lawyers' request for release, the Constitutional Court neither examined the medical reports nor their statements on not being treated at hospital. "There is no serious danger posed to their material or immaterial integrity," it concluded.

The İstanbul Forensic Medicine Institution announced its report on lawyer Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal on July 30, 2020 and said that neither of them was in a state to stay in prison.