HRW: Arrest of lawyers undermines the right to a legal defense

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The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has criticized the detention of 41 lawyers during police raids on September 11, saying that it undermined the right to a legal defense.

In a written statement, it said, "The arrests were a chilling demonstration of the Turkish government's disrespect for the rule of law and for the role of lawyers in ensuring suspects an effective defense."

"The arrests and raids, conducted under the guise of terrorism allegations, blatantly seek to identify lawyers with the alleged crimes of their clients in violation of international law, and undermine the right to a fair trial," said the statement.

"The legal profession, and specifically defense lawyers, are once again being targeted in mass operations of the kind we have sadly seen repeatedly over the past four years," said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Beyond smearing the individual lawyers, this latest operation seeks to further erode the legal profession's ability to uphold the rule of law and to ensure that everyone accused of a crime enjoys their right to a legal defense."

The Ankara prosecutor's office briefed Turkish media on the arrests of lawyers in Ankara and seven other provinces, saying that it was connected to a terrorism investigation into 60 suspects. The prosecution accuses the defense lawyers, trainee lawyers, and three dismissed judges, "under the guise of attorneyship activities," of acting on the orders of a terrorist organization because of the legal work they perform on behalf of their clients. They accuse them of attempting to influence the criminal investigations in favor of the organization.

The arrest of the lawyers comes after a September 1 speech by President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to mark the beginning of the judicial year, HRW noted.

He suggested that lawyers deemed to have links with terrorist organizations could be dismissed from the profession and declared that: "We will do what is necessary to cut off the bloody path from attorneyship to terrorism." 

"Recent moves against the legal profession in Turkey should be seen in the context of the Turkish authorities' deep assault on the rule of law and human rights, especially the right to a fair trial," Williamson said.

"Having gained control over prosecutors and judges, the government seems intent on controlling the legal profession too and completing its onslaught on the rule of law," he added. (AS/VK)