Lawyer Aytaç Ünsal arrested

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The People's Law Bureau has announced that lawyer Aytaç Ünsal has been arrested after he was detained in Edirne yesterday (December 10).

In a statement about his detention, the Interior Ministry said that Ünsal was prevented from "fleeing abroad" and detained with three others.

With the execution of prison sentence deferred following his death fast, lawyer Ünsal first underwent a medical check. Then, he has been sent to the Edirne Type F Prison without being referred to the courthouse.

Avukat Aytaç Ünsal, "hapishanede kalamaz" raporu olmasına rağmen hakkında verilen infaz erteleme kararı kaldırılarak tutuklandı.
Şu an adliyeye dahi götürülmeden Edirne F Tipi Hapishanesine götürülüyor.

— Halkın Hukuk Bürosu (@halkinhukuk_) December 10, 2020

Law bureau: He is still in treatment

In a statement released by the People's Law Bureau (HHB) on Twitter, the arrest of Ünsal has been announced briefly in following words:

"Despite a report documenting that he is not in a state to stay in prison, lawyer Aytaç Ünsal has been arrested after the verdict of suspension of the execution was revoked. He is now being taken to the Edirne Type F Prison without even being referred to the courthouse.

"The arrest of Ünsal means openly putting his life at risk. A verdict of suspension of the execution was given for Aytaç Ünsal as he was not in good health. However, the reason for suspending the execution did not disappear. Ünsal is still in the treatment process.

'It is against the law'

"Revoking the verdict of suspension of the execution is openly against the law. The related decision was given upon the instruction of the political power holders and the directions of the pro-government media. The decision was not given by the courts, but by the Interior Ministry itself."

'He was tortured in detention'

In a previous statement, the HHB also announced that Ünsal was "taken out of the vehicle by force and subjected to torture" while he was being detained. Nihat Ünsal, the father of Aytaç Ünsal, also shared the photo of his son with bruises on his face on his social media account and said:

"My son, lawyer Aytaç Ünsal ended his death fast on September 3, 2020. You prevented his treatment by putting pressure on the administration of the hospital where we took him for treatment. Then, we moved to the İstanbul Physician's House, you did not leave us alone there, either. We were searched at 1 a.m. and told that we could not stay there.

"For this reason, we took my son home for treatment. You also raided it with long barreled weapons on made-up grounds. Now, as can be seen from the photo, you have hurt a sick person undergoing treatment. Please, tell me as a father, where should we go to live?"

Avukat oğlum Aytaç Ünsal 3 Eylül 2020 de ölüm orucunu sonlandırdı. Tedavi için götürdüğümüz hastahane yönetimine baskı yaparak tedaviyi engellediniz, Istanbul Hakimevine taşındık oradada rahat bırakmadınız gece saat 01de arandık ve orada kalamayacağımız söylendi. pic.twitter.com/bxPepOdYye

— Nihat ÜNSAL (@NihatNSAL14) December 10, 2020

What happened?

On a death fast for her right to a fair trial, arrested lawyer Ebru Timtik lost her life in the Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital in İstanbul on the 238th day of her death fast on August 27, 2020.

On September 4, arrested lawyer Aytaç Ünsal, who had also been on a death fast with the same demand, ended his death fast on the condition of being treated by independent physicians after the Court of Cassation released him on probation.

The 16th Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation handed down its judgement in the trial of Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD) and upheld all prison sentences, except for the ones given to lawyers Barkın Timtik, Selçuk Kozağaçlı and Ezgi Çakır.

The Chamber indicated that there was no ground to give a judgement about lawyer Ebru Timtik as she had lost her life on a death fast. The execution of lawyer Aytaç Ünsal's sentence will be deferred until his treatment ends.

On December 10, 2020, the Ministry of Interior announced that lawyer Aytaç Ünsal had been "caught with three migrant smugglers while trying to flee abroad from Edirne," a northwestern province of Turkey bordering Greece. Ünsal was detained by three others. (TP/SD)