Photo: Evrensel
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The Freedom for Defense Coordination has called for the release of death fasting lawyers Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal.
Reading out a statement in front of the İstanbul Bar Association, Progressive Lawyers' Association (ÇHD) Secretary-General Nergis Tuba Aslan said, "We call on the Court of Cassation to urgently give a decision and take into account the requirements of the right to a fair trial."
After 18 lawyers from the ÇHD were sentenced to a total of 159 years in prison based on witness statements, Timtik and Ünsal started a hunger strike on January 2 and February 2, respectively, demanding their right to a fair trial. They eventually turned the hunger strike into a "death fast."
Main opposition Republican People's Party (MP) Sezgin Tanrıkulu, Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) MP Hüda Kaya, Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP) Chair and MP Erkan Baş, independent MP Ahmet Şık and lawyers attended yesterday's (August 20) demonstration.
"We call on the managers and doctors of the hospital where Ebru and Aytaç are held to remember the requirements of professional ethics. You hide the medical reports of Ebru and Aytaç from their attorneys. This is a crime. Your duty does not involve threatening individuals with forced intervention but rather protecting human dignity.
"We address the whole public: "We are addressing the whole public from here: If we lose Ebru and Aytaç, we will not lose only two lawyers. We will lose the essence of the profession of defense, our dignity, our power to resist.
"The requirements of this profession absolutely includes the protection of the right to a fair trial. With this awareness and belief, we call on everyone to make Ebru and Aytaç live."
MP Tanrıkulu: They didn't have a fair trial
"The two lawyers, as all of our friends here witnessed, did not have a fair trial. The rights to defense were not taken into account," Tanrkıkulu said. "They were quickly convicted with confessor defendants' statements. The appeal court did not hold a hearing. The Court of Cassation keeps the file waiting
"A death with death fast is the heaviest burden," he said, calling on the judiciary to "take a step" to prevent the lawyers' death.
Baydar-Ünsal: We'll make them live
Aytaç Ünsal's spouse, Didem Baydar-Ünsal, said that "We will not be a party to this crime. We will not meet it with silence. Intellectuals, lawyers of the country will make Ebru and Aytaç live."
Baydar-Ünsal also stays at the hospital as his spouse's companion. "We were subjected to systematic torture with my spouse in that confinement cell. They watched us 24 hours," she said.
CLICK - Death fasting lawyer Aytaç Ünsal: They eat doner kebab at my door
"They are so shameless about watching us that on the first night I stayed there, while I was laying on a separate couch, 10 gendarmes and one head warden came in as if conducting a raid, although they knew that I was his companion.
"They asked us to turn the lights on. But the light was on, the door of the toilet was open and they could see us clearly. This is how their mentality, morality are."
What happened?Announcing its verdict in the lawsuit filed against ÇHD lawyers on March 20, the court ruled that the lawyers should be sentenced to 3 years, 1 month, 15 days to 18 years, 9 months in prison. The 2nd Penal Chamber of the İstanbul Regional Court of Justice rejected the objections and sent the file to the Court of Cassation. CLICK - 18 Lawyers Sentenced to Prison for 159 Years, 1 Month, 30 Days in Total CLICK - Judge first upheld prison sentence, then examined the file The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office of the Court of Cassation expressed the opinion that the prison sentences of all lawyers, except for the one given to lawyer Barkın Timtik, be upheld. The letter of notification only indicated that the prison sentence of 18 years, 9 months given to Barkın Timtik for "establishing and leading an organization" as per the Article 314/1 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) should be overturned and he should also be penalized for "membership of an organization" like other lawyers. The letter of notification issued by the prosecutor's office has been sent to the 16th Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation. CLICK - Court of Appeals Upholds 159-Year Prison Term for Progressive Lawyers Association Members Lawyer Ebru Timtik, an executive of the ÇHD, and lawyer Aytaç Ünsal, a member of the ÇHD, went on a death fast for the right to a fair trial on January 2 and February 2, respectively. The İstanbul Forensic Medicine Institution released its first report on the health conditions of death-fasting arrested lawyers Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal on July 30 and, for both of them, the Forensic Medicine Institution said that "it was not suitable for them to stay in prison." After this report was issued in early morning hours, the attorneys of Timtik and Ünsal submitted a petition to İstanbul 37th Heavy Penal Court, presenting both this medical report and their request for release. 152 petitions written by lawyers abroad and petitions signed by dozens of lawyers in Turkey requesting their release were also added. Examining the application of the attorneys, the İstanbul 37th Heavy Penal Court has ruled that the arrest of lawyers Timtik and Ünsal shall continue. The court has also ruled that "a writ shall be written to the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office so that the necessary can be done to urgently ensure their medical follow-up and treatment in hospital conditions." Shortly after the court's ruling, the lawyers were hospitalized. Previously in Silivri Prison, Timtik was taken to at Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital in Bakırköy district and Ünsal was taken to Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Training and Research Hospital in Küçükçekmece district from Burhaniye Prison. Their attorneys submitted an appeal to İstanbul 38th Heavy Penal Court against the rejection of the release request. The ÇHD lawyers' case is currently in the examination at the 16th Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation. |
(EKN/VK)
