After a Turkish court acquitted 87 protestors on Nov 28, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director EU, Balkans and Turkey, Dinushka Disanayake, said “the endemic misuse of the criminal justice system to crack down on dissent in Türkiye must end.”
All defendants were tried for taking part in the protests which erupted across the country after the arrest of the now-suspended İstanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in late March.
Court acquits 109 over March protests in İstanbul
Disanayake stated that “Amnesty International’s research into the policing of these mass protests found allegations of torture and other ill-treatment, including the targeting of journalists, by law enforcement officials during the demonstrations.”
Following their research, Amnesty International released a statement in June calling for the investigation of ill-treatment by law enforcement officials during the protests.
While Amnesty International welcomed the court’s acquittal, Disanayake said “it does beg the question as to why they were put through this eight-month ordeal in the first place.”
“The prosecutions of these protesters, journalists and lawyers should never have been brought.” (SH/VK)
