3 July 2020, After the Hearing, Çağlayan Courthouse, Istanbul

This prosecution, which has nothing to do with the laws and should have never been opened in the first place, is concluded with another unlawful decision. The court decision based solely on trumped-up charges, all of which have already been refuted, is another stain on Turkey’s judicial history.

As we said before the hearing, we won’t accept the conviction of even a single friend of ours. We’ll keep monitoring this case as it goes through the appeal process.

The European Parliament´s standing rapporteur for Turkey, Nacho Sánchez Amor (S&D, ES), and the Chair of the Delegation to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, Sergey Lagodinsky, (Greens/EFA, DE) said:

3 July 2020, Çağlayan Courthouse, Istanbul

Three years ago, during a routine civil society workshop in Büyükada island, human rights defenders were detained by police. Human rights defenders who spent many years defending human rights were targeted with baseless allegations and a smear campaign on TV and newspapers. In the shadow of a climate of fear, they were imprisoned without any lawful justification.

BIANET

Lawyers have come together in front of İstanbul Courthouse and rallied against the motion foreseeing amendments to the Attorneys’ Acts that will enable the establishment of more than one bar association in a city. Police intervened in the protest in Adana.

Upon the call of the İstanbul Bar Association, hundreds of lawyers came together in front of İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan today (June 30) and protested the bill that will "split bar associations."

BIANET

Prevented from holding a march from Diyarbakır Bar Association to the Four-Legged Minaret, where former Diyarbakır Bar Chair Tahir Elçi was assassinated, lawyers have staged a sit-in protest in front of Diyarbakır Bar.

United Nations Special Rapporteur On the Situation of Human Rights Defenders:

Court Verdicts For Human Rights Defenders In Turkey Due Friday July 3

Eleven Human Rights Defenders are waiting for court verdicts to be announced this Friday, July 3, in Istanbul.  It’s a well-known case, known usually as the Buyukada Case. The defenders face jail terms in Turkey of up to 15 years each.

United Nations Special Rapporteur On the Situation of Human Rights Defenders:

Court Verdicts For Human Rights Defenders In Turkey Due Friday July 3

Eleven Human Rights Defenders are waiting for court verdicts to be announced this Friday, July 3, in Istanbul.  It’s a well-known case, known usually as the Buyukada Case. The defenders face jail terms in Turkey of up to 15 years each.

DUVAR ENGLISH

DUVAR ENGLISH

A U.S.-based documentary maker produced a 10-minute opera about jailed philanthropist Osman Kavala and his pet snails. The human rights activist and businessman has been imprisoned for nearly a thousand days, and adopted two snails as pets in prison. The volunteers recorded the opera from remote locations, only to be mixed together later.

BİANET

Bar association chairs from various provinces have not been able to enter Ankara as the police have closed entrances to the capital. Ankara Bar Association members are also at the city's entrance to welcome their colleagues.