Ranko Pelicarić, president of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE), wrote a letter to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to express their concern over the continued detention of lawyer Sevda Çelik Özbingöl. The letter is as follows:
Your Excellency,
I am writing to you on behalf of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE), which represents the bars and law societies of 45 countries, and through them more than 1 million European lawyers. The CCBE places great emphasis on respect for human rights and the rule of law and is particularly concerned with the situation of human rights defenders around the world.
The CCBE would like to express its serious concern over the continued detention of lawyer Sevda Özbingöl Çelik.
According to the information received, lawyer Sevda Özbingöl Çelik has been kept in pre-trial detention since 17 March 2020. It is reported that after multiple adjournments, her trial was scheduled on 2 October 2020, nonetheless, it was postponed once again until 17 November, on the grounds that there existed deficiencies in the investigation file.
The CCBE already wrote to Your Excellency in relation to the arrest and pre-trial detention of Sevda Özbingöl Çelik in April 20201. Furthermore, the CCBE has expressed its serious concerns on several occasions these last years regarding the deteriorating situation of lawyers in Turkey2 as there have been repeated arrests of lawyers since 2016 and it is reported that, to date, over 1600 lawyers have been arrested and more than 600 of them were imprisoned, 441 of them having been convicted of “being a member of a terrorist organisation”.
In this context, the CCBE wishes to draw your attention to the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers (attached), Principles 16, 17 and 18 on Guarantees for the functioning of lawyers and Principle 23 on Freedom of expression and association. The CCBE also wishes to draw your attention to Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights on the Right to Liberty and Security and Article 6 on the Right to a Fair Trial.
In view of the above, the CCBE respectfully urges Your Excellency to do everything in your power to restore the freedom of lawyer Sevda Özbingöl Çelik since it is believed that her detention is solely based on her activities as a lawyer. In addition, the CCBE asks that you take all necessary measures to guarantee that all lawyers in Turkey are able to carry out their professional duties without fear of reprisal, hindrance, intimidation or harassment in order to preserve the independence and integrity of the administration of justice and the rule of law.
