Rights group calls for rights defender, lawyer Tarık Güneş’s release
Click to read the article in Turkish
The Human Rights Association (İHD) has released a statement and requested the release of human rights defender and lawyer Tarık Güneş.
İHD Muş branch's former chair Tarık Güneş and lawyer Rumet Agit Özer from the Muş Bar were detained on February 12, 2022. While Güneş was arrested a day later, Özer was released on probation.
Releasing a written statement within this context today (February 14), the İHD has indicated that during their interrogation before the Criminal Judgeship of Peace and the Prosecutor's Office, Tarık Güneş and Rumit Agit Özer were asked questions about a series of reports and statements issued as part of the Human Rights Association's works 7-8 years ago.
The Association has announced that Güneş has been arrested with the related activities considered to be a crime.
'Decisions of non-prosecution given in the past'
Recalling that Güneş would frequently go to Muş Courthouse, the Human Rights Association has stressed that without being arrested, "he could have been summoned to give his statement about a past issue that directly concerns freedom of expression and freedom of association."
The İHD has said that while the investigation against Güneş should have been conducted with him free pending trial, he has been arrested "in such a way to criminalize" him, which is "against the Code of Criminal Procedure that is currently in effect in Turkey as well as all relevant legal precedents of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and Constitutional Court."
The İHD has also recalled that a decision of non-prosecution was given for the related activities over which Güneş is now in pre-trial detention:
"All activities of our Association between 2011 and 2016 were inspected during the inspection in 2016 and its all activities between 2016-2020 were inspected during the inspection in 2020; while there has been no prosecution over the reports released especially during the period of curfews, there are decisions of 'There is no ground for prosecution' given about this issue."
Policies of legal harassment
Against this background, the İHD has stressed that the Muş Chief Public Prosecutor's Office had the former chair of its Muş branch arrested without carrying out the necessary inspection and upon the guidance of the law enforcement, noting that "it is an indication of the fact that the policy of pressure by judiciary is still being incessantly pursued across Muş province."
Calling for an end to such policies, the İHD has defined the "mounting judicial pressure on the İHD and İHD executives" as "totally unacceptable".
Accordingly, the Human Rights Association has called on the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Interior to act in compliance with the United Nations (UN) Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and demanded the release of arrested lawyer and rights defender Tarık Güneş.
NOTE: In the last four months of 2021, at least 1,220 rights advocates faced different types of obstacles due to their activities, according to an information note by the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV/HRFT). Among these people, 833 faced legal harassment, some 519 rights defenders were prosecuted and 21 were sentenced to either prison or a judicial fine.
(AS/SD)