Amnesty International says 'justice prevails' after top court ruling in Büyükada case

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Amnesty International said the overturning of the convictions of four human rights advocates was a "huge relief," but also highlighted the "politically motivated nature of the prosecutions."

The Court of Cassation, the highest appeals court of Türkiye, overturned the sentences of the rights defenders on "terror"-related charges.

CLICK - Court of Cassation overturns sentences in Büyükada case

The decision concerns Taner Kılıç and Özlem Dalkıran, two founders of Amnesty International Türkiye, İdil Eser and Günal Kurşun.

"Today's ruling brings to an end a travesty of justice of spectacular proportions. While we are hugely relieved that the convictions have finally been quashed, the fact that the court has ruled that Taner's case requires further investigation is disappointing," said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International's secretary general.

"For more than five years, we have watched the wheels of injustice grind as the baseless claims leveled against these four brave human rights defenders have been accepted as fact by successive courts. Today's ruling reveals the true purpose of such politically motivated prosecutions: using the courts as a weapon to silence critical voices."

Taner Kılıç, a refugee rights lawyer and Honorary Chair of Amnesty's Türkiye section, was arrested in June 2017 and detained in prison for more than 14 months. Despite a complete lack of evidence, in July 2020, he was convicted of "membership of a terrorist organization" and sentenced to six years and three months in prison. İdil Eser, Özlem Dalkıran and Günal Kurşun were all convicted of 25 months for "assisting a terrorist organization" and spent more than three months behind bars in 2017.

Over the course of 12 court hearings, every allegation leveled against the four human rights activists was repeatedly and comprehensively proven baseless, including in the state's own police report.

In May, the European Court reaffirmed that the authorities in Türkiye did not have "any reasonable suspicion that Taner Kılıç had committed an offense". It also found that his pre-trial detention under terrorism-related charges was "directly linked to his activity as a human rights defender." This binding decision became final in October.

"Whilst we celebrate this decision today, we do not forget that across Türkiye many human rights defenders are languishing in jail, living in fear of arrest or facing similar unfounded prosecutions," said Agnès Callamard.

"We will take strength from today's victory. We will continue to stand with Taner until the end and to fight against the relentless curtailing of human rights in Türkiye, and on behalf

What happened?

On July 5, 2017, 10 rights advocates from various rights organizations were taken into custody during a training workshop with the topic "Protection and digital security of human rights advocates" in Büyükada, one of the Prince Islands in İstanbul. Nothing was heard from detained rights defenders for 30 hours.

On July 18, Idil Eser (Amnesty International Turkey Director), Özlem Dalkıran (Citizens' Assembly / formerly called Helsinki Citizens Association), Günal Kurşun (Human Rights Agenda Association), Veli Acu (Human Rights Agenda Association), Ali Garawi (citizen of Sweden / human rights trainer), and Peter Steudtner (citizen of Germany / human rights trainer) were arrested on charges of "committing crimes on behalf of the terrorist organization without being a member" (Article 220/6 of Turkish Penal Code/TCK ) and "being a member of an armed terrorist organization" (Articles 314/2 and 314/3 of TCK).

On July 23, İlknur Üstün (Women's Coalition) and Nalan Erkem (Citizens' Assembly / formerly called Helsinki Citizens Association), who were released on probation with an international travel ban, were arrested upon the prosecutor's objection to their release.

Amnesty International Turkey Executive Board Chair Taner Kılıç, who had been in pre-trial detention since June 2017 in another case, was included in the bill of indictment of Büyükada lawsuit later as a suspect.

According to the bill of indictment prepared by Public Prosecutor Can Tuncay, the rights defenders are claimed to be members of the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization/Parallel State Organization (FETÖ/PDY), Kurdistan Workers' Party/Kurdistan Communities Union (PKK/KCK) and The Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C).

On October 25, the court ruled that Günal Kurşun, İlknur Üstün, İdil Eser, Nalan Erkem, Peter Steudtner, Özlem Dalkıran, Ali Garawi and Veli Acu be released. In addition, an international travel ban was imposed on Özlem Dalkıran and Veli Acu, and the probation order for Şeyhmus Özbekli and Nejat Taştan that was issued on July 25, was revoked.

The file of Kılıç, who stood trial in a separate case held before İzmir 16 Assize Court on charge of "financing terrorism and spying" and was later included in the indictment of Büyükada lawsuit as a suspect, was combined with the main Büyükada Case.

Taner Kılıç was released on August 15, 2018. Kılıç faced 7.5 years to 15 years in prison.

The final hearing of the case was held on July 3, 2020. Kılıç was sentenced to 6 years, 3 months and Günal Kuşun, İdil Eser and Özlem Dalkıran to 1 year, 13 months in prison.

(AS/VK)