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The trial of Human Rights Association (İHD) Co-Chair and lawyer Öztürk Türkdoğan for "membership of a [terrorist / illegal] organization" began at the Ankara 19th High Criminal Court today (February 22).
As reported by Mezopotamya Agency (MA), İHD Co-Chair Eren Keskin, Lawyers for Freedom Association (ÖHD), Progressive Lawyers' Association (ÇHD), Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Kocaeli MP Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu and representatives from several political parties and civil society organizations followed the first hearing in the capital city.
'This unlawfulness has to end'
The hearing began after the identity check. Taking the floor at the hearing, Öztürk Türkdoğan briefly stated the following:
"İHD is a democratic mass organization and it has, from time to time, been among the democratic mass organizations. With this court case filed against me, they want to intimidate human rights advocates, our association and us. I think the case against me was filed by the Interior Ministry.
"I am a human rights defender. The legal and democratic activities I did have been cited as a justification in the indictment. I will keep on doing human rights activities. This unlawfulness must end."
'The indictment is undue'
Taking the floor at the hearing, lawyer Kerem Altıparmak said that the indictment should be returned:
"Accepting the indictment means violating our client's rights. The indictment that has been prepared is undue; our client should be acquitted immediately. The indictment has been prepared with copy-paste."
Keskin: Do you have evidence?
Lawyer and İHD Co-Chair Eren Keskin also said:
"I don't remember a period when we, as lawyers, felt as defenseless as we do now. We have come to this trial by getting prepared and you are disregarding us. The decision you give today is an open violation of the right of defense. The Ministry of Interior summarizes everything quite clearly by saying, 'Let's do it first; let the judiciary follow.' Turkey signed international conventions and it is violating all international conventions.
"In this trial, we are trying to explain that a human rights advocate is not a member of an armed organization.
"We are rights defenders. Do you have evidence suggesting that he is a member of an armed organization? This means a violation of freedom of expression. We demand acquittal in the domestic law."
Following the defense statements, the court board has ruled that Öztürk Türkdoğan's international travel ban shall remain in effect.
The next hearing will be held on April 19, 2022.
What happened?In a statement ahead of the first hearing of Türkdoğan today, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) shared the following background information regarding the investigations and court cases against Öztürk Türkdoğan: Öztürk Türkdoğan, co-chair of the Human Rights Association, Turkey's oldest human rights group, is scheduled to stand trial in Ankara on February 22, 2022, on charges of "membership in a terrorist organization." If convicted, he could face a sentence of 5 to 10 years in prison. Türkdoğan is also being prosecuted in two other trials on charges of "insulting" the interior minister and "insulting the Turkish nation, Republic of Turkey, state institutions and bodies," each with a possible penalty of up to two years in prison. All indictments against him were prepared in December 2021. On March 19, 2021, police briefly detained Türkdoğan from his home, searching his house and confiscating his laptop and phone. He was later released with a travel ban imposed on him. The evidence in the indictment charging Türkdoğan with "membership in a terrorist organization," the most serious charge he faces, consists of Türkdoğan's speeches, statements, and conversations in his capacity as the co-chair of the Human Rights Association. The indictment cites nine broadcasts in which the ANF Kurdish media outlet included clips of Türkdoğan making public statements on various dates between March 2015 to January 2020. The statements include calls to end the prolonged solitary confinement of Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and other prisoners, and relate to hunger strikes by prisoners supporting the lifting of solitary confinement. Other evidence cited in the indictment includes seven phone calls on various dates in 2019, four with media outlets or journalists. The indictment also cites three photographs found on Türkdoğan's laptop showing banners prepared by the Human Rights Association. Two protest solitary confinement in prisons and the treatment of sick prisoners and a third calls for the recognition of Saddam Hussein's Anfal campaign in Iraqi Kurdistan in the 1980s as a genocide against Kurds. The indictment also asserts that Türkdoğan transferred money "to persons subject to legal processes in connection with terrorist organization membership," an allegation he denies. The two other indictments were prepared by different Ankara prosecutors. One concerns a statement made on April 24, 2017, by the Human Rights Association on its website calling for an end to Turkey's denial of the Armenian genocide. The prosecutor alleges the statement exceeds the limits of freedom of expression and amounts to the offense of "insulting the Turkish nation, the state of the Republic of Turkey, state institutions and bodies" under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. The third indictment accuses Türkdoğan of "insulting" Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, under article 125 of the Turkish Penal Code on the basis of a February 18, 2021 statement on the Human Rights Association website responding to the minister's harsh criticism of the association in a parliamentary speech. |
(AS/SD)
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