Büyükada Trial: 'This Case was Opened to Intimidate Civil Society'

Photo: Amnesty International

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Eleven rights defenders, against whom a lawsuit was filed on charges of "aiding armed terrorist organizations" and "being members of an armed terrorist organization" due to their meeting entitled "digital security and protection of human rights defenders", had their 11th hearing at the İstanbul 35th Heavy Penal Court today (February 19).

In order for the defendants to continue making their defenses, the court did not announce a verdict and stated that the next hearing will be held on April 3, 2020.

Taner Kılıç: Four reports prove I never used ByLock

Amnesty International Honorary Chair Taner Kılıç spoke first, saying that allegations against him have been refuted:

"The ByLock accusation - the prosecutor says it has been established that I had ByLock. I have used the same phone number in the last 25 years and the same phone for the last five years.

"My house was searched in the early hours of June 6, 2017. My phone, my sim card were taken. But my phone was apparently used at 16.44 that same afternoon, that is after it was taken away by police. That means the fact that I didn't have ByLock must have been known then.

"The court repeatedly asked for an additional report from the cyber crimes unit whether returning my phone to factory settings could have erased it completely. They have not responded.

"ByLock was not downloaded on my phone. Repeated reports established this.

"I won't go through all the details of the second report by Secureworks - prepared in August 2017; the translation was prepared a month later. I have to say it was very hard to find a notary to confirm the translation because the report was about ByLock!

"Secureworks is a world renowned and used by states around the world. They tested by downloading ByLock on a different phone, erased it, returned it to factory settings and compared it with my phone. They confirmed that mine didn't have any trace, the test phone did.

"I request my acquittal. We, as human rights defenders, just defend human rights."

Günal Kurşun: I was acquitted of FETÖ membership

Speaking after Kılıç, Amnesty International member Günal Kurşun said that he was acquitted in another case where he was charged with being a member of the "Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ)."

"In a different case I was prosecuted for membership, assistance and propaganda for Fethullah Gülen terrorist organization and I was acquitted.

"The prosecution of an individual on the same accusation when there was an acquittal is forbidden. It's double jeopardy.

"As human rights defenders, we don't consider the identity of the individual whose rights were violated. We look at the violation and don't pick and choose who's rights we defend.

"I am sorry to say whether I am acquitted or convicted I will continue my work as a human rights defender. I request all of our acquittals."

Veli Acu: I am on trial because of defending human rights

Amnesty International member Veli Acu spoke next:

"I am accused of supporting three different organizations, with diametrically opposed ideological positions. As usually said, this is not consistent with the natural orders of life.

İlknur Üstün, the Turkey Coordinator of the European Women's Lobby and the Coordinator of the Women's Coalition, said, "I work women's rights and human rights."

"Büyükada meeting was part and parcel of all my activities in defense of women and human rights.

"No progress can be achieved without the work of human rights defenders. Defending human rights cannot be criminalized, not here not anywhere in the world

The prosecutor's request for my acquittal is correct. We are all in the same position, we must all be acquitted."

Nejat Taştan, a member of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey and the Human Rights Association, said, "All the propaganda in sections of the media, while we were detained, were directly reproduced in the indictment. We know we are not being prosecuted for anything that we have done. Our prosecution is part of the crackdown on civil society. This case was opened to intimidate human rights defenders and civil society."

Şeyhmus Özbekli, a member of the Rights Initiative, said, "The accusation against me is a message and a telephone conversation. I have not committed any crime. The prosecutor is asking for my acquittal for lack of evidence.

"I have learned way more through this prosecution than I have during my training. I request my acquittal for not having committed the crime, not for lack of evidence."

"I am not making a defense"

Amnesty International's former Turkey Director İdil Deniz's statement was read by attorney Deniz Yıldız:

"As I am not a criminal, I am making a statement, not a defense.

" I find the prosecutor's request to convict us a source of shame. I believe he might have forgotten the training he must have received on human rights law, the ECtHR case law. None of our submissions have been taken into account in his opinion.

"Our workshop was not a secret meeting. At the same time, there is no obligation to publicly announce every meeting held by an NGO. I am sure the prosecutor does not announce all his meetings publicly.

"the prosecutor mentions the campaign documents, one before I started as a director, about the ending of tear gas transfers to Turkey in 2013, and another about the teachers on hunger strikes. He assigned there to Taner by error. They are legitimate activities.

"Defending human rights is a right, it's done by defenders who don't discriminate among the people whose rights are violated."

(AS/VK)

Translation of the statements: Milena Buyum