Four people sentenced to prison, seven people acquitted in Büyükada trial

* Photo: Mezopotamya Agency (MA)

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11 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" in Büyükada, İstanbul, had their final hearing at the İstanbul 35th Heavy Penal Court today (July 3).

Announcing its ruling, the court board has ruled that Taner Kılıç shall be sentenced to 6 years, 3 months in prison for "organization membership" while Günal Kuşun, İdil Eser and Özlem Dalkıran shall be sentenced to 1 year, 13 months in prison for "aiding the organization."

Nalan Erkem, İlknur Üstün, Ali Gharavi, Peter Steudtner, Veli Acu, Nejat Taştan and Şeyhmus Özbekli have been acquitted.

Number of attorneys limited by the court

In the hearing held at İstanbul Courthouse today, the relatives of defendants, journalists, representatives of international organizations and audience were not allowed into the courtroom on the ground of coronavirus. On the same ground, the court board also limited the number of attorneys that could attend the hearing, allowing only one attorney per defendant into the room.

Two journalists and observers from the Consulates of Germany, Sweden and Switzerland could follow the hearing.

'Injustice somewhere means injustice everywhere'

Murat Deha Boduroğlu, the attorney of defendant Peter Steudtner, read out the written statement sent by his client.

"We were arrested by unlawful means. The detention and arrest were full of violations of international conventions that Turkey is a party to," Steudtner said in his statement and demanded his acquittal.

Speaking afterwards, Boduroğlu also raised concerns about the severe abuse of rights suffered by his client during his detention and arrest.

Oğul Güner Olgun, the attorney of defendant Ali Garavi, also elaborated on the violations of rights and unlawful acts committed against his client in the course of his detention as well as in the ensuing arrest.

Reading out Ali Garavi's written defense, Olgun said: "You want to acquit five of us while convicting the rest. And you do this while we should not have been arrested in the first place... Injustice somewhere means injustice everywhere. We are not terrorists, we only defended human rights."

Attorney Deniz Yazgan also read out Özlem Dalkıran's statement as to the accusations. "What is put on trial here is not only the 11 people there, but the community of human rights as a whole," she said.

Attorney Ezgi Yalvarıcı, who represented Nejat Taştan, stated that "while the aim of any penal proceedings was to come to a concrete conclusion based on evidence, the evidence was not take into consideration by the court" in Büyükada trial. "A conclusion has been drawn in the opinion as to the accusations without examining the evidence. That is why we are making our defenses at length," she added.

Prison sentence for four people

Announcing its ruling after the statements, the court board has ruled that Taner Kılıç shall be sentenced to 6 years, 3 months in prison for "organization membership" while Günal Kuşun, İdil Eser and Özlem Dalkıran shall be sentenced to 1 year, 13 months for "aiding the organization."

Nalan Erkem, İlknur Üstün, Ali Gharavi, Peter Steudtner, Veli Acu, Nejat Taştan and Şeyhmus Özbekli have been acquitted.

Statement for the press before the hearing

Ahead of the final hearing of rights defenders, a statement for the press was held in front of İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan earlier today.

Opening a banner that read "Justice for rights defenders," several rights defenders and representatives for law organizations attended the statement. Addressing the crowd, Emel Kurma, a member of the Citizens Assembly's Executive Board, briefly stated the following:

"Human rights defenders, having devoted years and years of their lives to protect human rights, were targeted in newspapers and televisions with unreal claims. Under the shadow of this fabricated climate, they were arrested without any legal grounds. The indictment brought inconceivable, utterly different charges against them."

Noting that these allegations were refuted in the ensuing judicial proceedings for three years, Kurma said that "they were still cited in the opinion as to the accusations of the prosecutor on November 27, 2019." Concluding her remarks, she stressed that this lawsuit should not have been filed in the first place and reiterated their calls for the acquittal of 11 rights defenders.

(HA/SD)