HRW: Convictions in Büyükada trial 'politically motivated'

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The conviction of four people in the Büyükada trial on July 3, 2020, was politically motivated and an effort to stifle the legitimate work of Turkey's human rights movement, Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Monday.

İstanbul 35th Heavy Penal Court convicted Taner Kılıç, Amnesty International Turkey's honorary chair, on the charge of "membership of a terrorist organization," sentencing him to six years and three months in prison. Three right defenders, Günal Kuşun, İdil Eser and Özlem Dalkıran, were sentenced to 1 year and 13 months in prison for "aiding an illegal organization" while seven others were acquitted.

"In three years the police and prosecutors have produced not a shred of evidence of criminal activity by any of the 11 rights defenders who stood trial," said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Four have been convicted for their legitimate human rights work in another trial which demonstrates how any independence in Turkey's justice system has collapsed under political pressure."

Kılıç was first detained in İzmir on June 6, 2017, and days later placed in pretrial detention, where he spent 14 months. His case was combined with that of ten other rights defenders detained on July 5, 2017 in a police raid on a human rights education workshop they were participating in on Büyükada Island, İstanbul.

"All 11 were subjected to a concerted media smear campaign suggesting that they were involved in a conspiracy to foment chaos in the country and alleging that they had links with a number of outlawed organizations," HRW said. "The media pursuing the smear campaign were closely aligned with the government and made allegations against the defendants before the prosecutor's office had prepared an indictment against them and during their trial."

The decision cited no grounds for the convictions, and Human Rights Watch is awaiting the court's full reasoned decision.

The indictment against Kılıç alleged that he had used the encrypted communication application ByLock on his phone. The app is alleged to have been used by supporters of the Fethullah Gülen movement, which Turkey deems a terrorist organization responsible for the July 2016 coup attempt. Several expert reports during the trial demonstrated that Kılıç had never had or used the app.

In the case against the ten defendants detained on Büyükada, the indictment cited ephemera gathered from their laptops and phones, none of it amounting to evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

"The court's verdict convicts four people but is an attack on the entire human rights movement in Turkey," Williamson said. "We hope the higher courts will do their duty and reverse this miscarriage of justice."

(EMK/VK)