Ludovic Trarieux Human Rights Prize awarded to lawyers Barkın and Ebru Timtik

About Ludovic Trarieux Human Rights Prize

Created in 1984, the "International Human Rights Prize Ludovic -Trarieux" is awarded to "a lawyer, regardless of nationality or Bar, who throughout their career has illustrated, by their activity or their suffering, the defence of human rights, the promotion of defence rights, the supremacy of law, and the struggle against racism and intolerance in any form."

The Ludovic Trarieux Human Rights Prize is the oldest and most prestigious award given to a lawyer but his/her peers. The Prize was first awarded on March 29, 1985 to Nelson Mandela, who at the time was in prison.

Since 2003, the Prize has been awarded every year in partnership with the Human Rights Institute of The Bar of Bordeaux, the Human Rights Institute of the Bar of Paris, the Human Rights Institute of The Bar of Brussels, l'Unione forense per la tutela dei diritti dell'uomo (Rome), Rechtsanwaltskammer Berlin, the Bar of Luxembourg, the Bar of Geneva, the Bar of Amsterdam as well as the International Association of Lawyers (UIA), and the European Bar Human Rights Institute (IDHAE) whose members are the biggest European law societies fighting for human rights.

* Source: International Association of Lawyers (IAL)

What happened?

On a death fast for a fair trial, Ebru Timtik, a death fasting arrested lawyer, was held in the Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital in Bakırköy, İstanbul. She lost her life on the 238th day of her fast on August 27.

On a death fast for 205 days, arrested lawyer Aytaç Ünsal was also held in Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Training and Research Hospital, a pandemic hospital in İstanbul. He was released on September 8. Shortly afterwards, he announced that he accepted treatment by independent physicians.

Charged with "membership of the organization," Ebru Timtik was sentenced to 13 years, 6 months in prison and Aytaç Ünsal to 10 years, 6 months. While the Court of Cassation concluded that there was no ground to hand a judgement on Timtik as she had passed away, the Court ruled that the execution of the sentence of Ünsal should be deferred until he recovered.

An application was made to the Constitutional Court for arrested lawyers Timtik and Ünsal on August 10, 2020, when they were both still arrested.

The application to the supreme court noted that "while they should have been released based on the reports prepared by the Forensic Medicine Institution, they were unjustly and unlawfully arrested and their health conditions were deteriorating in hospital conditions where they were held."

Within this context, the attorneys of Ünsal and Timtik requested that the Constitutional Court write an official letter to the local court, ordering the release of arrested lawyers as a precaution.

Rejecting death fasting lawyers' request for release, the Constitutional Court neither examined the medical reports nor their statements on not being treated at hospital. "There is no serious danger posed to their material or immaterial integrity," it concluded.

The İstanbul Forensic Medicine Institution announced its report on lawyer Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal on July 30, 2020 and said that neither of them was in a state to stay in prison.