The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has indicted nine lawyers who made a press statement in front of the İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan in protest against the appointment of trustees to the Metropolitan Municipalities of Diyarbakır, Van and Mardin on August 19, 2019.
A lawsuit has been filed against lawyers Eren Keskin, Akçay Taşçı, Avni Güçlü Sevimli, Gökmen Yeşil, Gülhan Kaya, Hüseyin Boğatekin, Kemal Aytaç, Sinan Zincir and Yaprak Türkmen on charge of "violating the Law no. 2911 on Meetings and Demonstrations."
As reported by Mezopotamya Agency (MA), the indictment has recalled that the banner of "People's will has been seized" was opened during the press statement and in her speech, Eren Keskin said, "We are once again here to protest the Eastern Edict of Reform put into force in Kurdistan. We are here against the policy of violence pursued in Kurdistan since the Republic."
'They prevented citizens from entering courthouse'
In its indictment against the lawyers, the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has argued that police officers urged lawyers to disperse after the press statement, but lawyers chanted slogans of "Shoulder to shoulder against fascism" and "Everywhere Amed, everywhere resistance", thereby preventing the citizens from entering the courthouse.
The indictment has further claimed that lawyers were planning to read out the statement for the press inside the courthouse, but the police intervened against the group on the grounds that such a statement inside public institutions is "against the law on meetings and demonstrations".
Arguing that several lawyers "resisted" the police during the intervention and more than one police officers were wounded as a result, the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has indicated that the investigation was launched after the police officers filed a criminal complaint. The indictment has demanded that the lawyers be penalized on the offense charged separately.
- On August 19, 2019, the elected Co-Mayors of Diyarbakır, Van and Mardin Metropolitan Municipalities from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) were removed from office by the Interior Ministry. The mayors were replaced by state-appointed trustees.
