‘Aytaç Ünsal is very determined despite 143 days’

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Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal... They are two arrested lawyers. They have been on a death fast for their right to a fair trial.

In 2017, the Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD) and People's Law Bureau (HHB) were raided by the police, several lawyers were detained and arrested. Timtik and Ünsal were among them.

Charged with "membership of a terrorist organization" and "leading an organization," 18 lawyers were sentenced to 159 years, 1 month, 30 days in prison in total. While Timtik was sentenced to 13 years, 6 months for "membership," Ünsal was sentenced to 10 years, 6 months.

As their sentences were upheld by the Court of Appeals, an application has been made to the Court of Cassation for them. The Court of Cassation is now examining the appeal against their verdict.

Lawyers Timtik and Ünsal went on a hunger strike to raise their voices for their right to a fair trial. Timtik turned her hunger strike into a death fast on the 94th day while Ünsal turned his strike into a fast on the 63rd day.

Ünsal is held in Burhaniye Type T Prison in Balıkesir and Timtik is held in Silivri No. 9 Prison in the outskirts of İstanbul.

Recently, lawyer Seyit Sönmez paid a visit to Aytaç Ünsal in prison. We have spoken with him about his impressions from the visit.

'What I saw was a thinner Aytaç'

Seyit Sönmez has shared the following observations with bianet:

"That image of Aytaç that we have from his pictures with fat cheeks and height is, of course, no more. He was thinner, he was really thin, his eyes and face... What I saw was a thinner Aytaç. Yesterday was the 143rd day of his death fast. Today marks the 144th. But his health condition was good because he is a person of sports. He was a professional boxer for years.

"But he was thinking about Ebru more than himself. 'She is thin and ill. She can perhaps stand it for 30-40 days, it can end badly,' he said. He was fine, psychologically speaking. He said that he was receiving letters and messages of solidarity from all parts of the country. He said that especially the march of the bars to Ankara and other protests for justice gave them hope."

'Bars' protest is not different than ours'

Sönmez says that Ünsal did not consider this recent protest of bar associations to be that different from their own protest as what they demanded was not only for themselves, but for the whole country.

Sönmez conveys the following remarks from Ünsal: "With the protest of bar associations, this has been understood: Our trial was done very quickly, our right to defense was prevented, the law was disregarded, they left us no points of objection and we were coerced to do this. There is no political motive behind this protest. All we want to do is to practice our profession. We want to be tried fairly and we have chosen this path because no other way was left for us. We thought that it was the most honorable of all."

* Photo: Seyit Sönmez/ Burhaniye Prison entry

Sönmez says that Aytaç's desire to live was very clearly seen.

According to Sönmez, Aytaç thinks that the Court of Cassation, which is now examining their case, will repeal the verdict and, thus, he is hopeful in that regard. "Aytaç thinks that the demand for justice raised with this last march will have an impact on their file," adds Sönmez and continues as follows:

'He is very determined despite 143 days'

"Despite 143 days, he was a person who was very determined and knew why he was there. He seemed to continue struggling if this demand for justice does not lead to positive results.

"I do not know whether they will reconsider their decisions or not even in case of a positive development about their file. Their demand is, in fact, a concrete one. They want to be tried fairly and to be released, they want their file to be reversed. In fact, if judges, the judges of local courts and the Court of Cassation examine the case from the perspective and with the reflex of a legist, there will remain no problems. Then, they will see that the file is, in fact, empty and they need to be released.

"We do not expect the Court of Cassation to hand down a conscientious judgement. If the ones put on trial as part of this file were not lawyers and if this was an ordinary file, no judge would or could give a judgement of organization membership for them. Because the verdict would have been reversed. Because this file is such a file.

'If it ends badly, we will all be accountable'

"This is a protest of death fast. There were those who began this protest and died. As it is a severe protest, it will affect us all if it ends up badly. We are all responsible for this, because it will be an irreversible result, it means dying.

"On your way to the Burhaniye Prison, you pass two villages and both of them have those small graveyards. This issue is, in fact, an issue that will end like this. If we want to do something, this injustice needs to be expressed. What can be done in this process is limited, but a voice can be raised in some way. We can raise our voices against the injustice faced by our colleagues with a simple click on social media."

Noting that everyone who has a social conscience needs to do their best to raise concerns over this injustice, Sönmez says that, otherwise, it might end up in death. "No matter what, one needs to be a part of this struggle as soon as possible," he concludes his remarks. (SO/SD)