Lawyer Can Tombul Released

* Photograph: EHB / Twitter

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Arrested in Silivri Prison pending trial, lawyer Can Tombul from the Law Bureau of the Oppressed (EHB) had his sixth hearing at the İstanbul 35th Heavy Penal Court today (September 12).

The court has ruled that Tombul shall be released on the ground that "the witnesses were not heard while he was arrested and there is no suspicion of escape". An international travel ban has been imposed on the lawyer.

Can Tombul, a lawyer for the October 10 Ankara massacre case and July 20 Suruç massacre case, has been arrested for the past 14 months.

What happened?

Can Tombul was taken into custody in Kadıköy in İstanbul on July 31, 2018. After being held in custody for four days, he was referred to the Penal Judgeship of Peace at the İstanbul Courthouse. The judgeship ruled that Tombul shall be arrested on the ground that "there was suspicion of escape."

Tombul was also detained in January 2018 as part of an investigation conducted by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. Deposing to the Prosecutor's Office, he was released on probation.

In the 16-page indictment issued for lawyer Can Tombul, two funerals that he attended in 2013 and 2015, one statement for the press and a statement of a witness have been cited as the reasons for the charges brought against him. (TP/SD)