9th edition of the International Day of the Endangered Lawyer : Support Turkish Lawyers
the International Day of the Endangered Lawyer is an initiative launched by the Organization of European Democratic Lawyers and followed by more and more law organizations around the world. It aims is to mobilize public opinion every January 24 about the critical situation of our confreres in a given country.
As every year since, the UIA joins this Day to support lawyers who are harassed, threatened and persecuted all over the world for the simple reason that they do their job and fulfill their professional duty. In 2019, the country targeted for the Day of the Endangered Lawyer will be Turkey for the second time.
Indeed, Turkish lawyers were murdered in the 1990s, and the attacks on lawyers never stopped since then.
Victims of mass arrests, as in 2011 or 2013, in the framework of anti-terrorist operations, or suspected of having links with the Güllen organization, Turkish lawyers are too often assimilated to the clients they defend.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that between January and December 2017 alone, approximately 570 lawyers were arrested, 1480 were prosecuted and 79 had been sentenced to long prison terms.
Give your support to our confreres in Turkey by taking part in the Day of the Endangered Lawyer! Events will be organized around the world and hundreds of lawyers will be mobilized.
It is fundamental that law societies and bar associations around the world can work together to share information and join forces to defend the confreres who need it most.
Support your colleagues in Turkey! These colleagues include:
Muharrem Erbey, former vice president of İnsan Haklari Derneği - IHD - and former President of the IHD Diyarbakir Section, writer and winner of the 2012 Ludovic-Trarieux International Human Rights Prize. He was sentenced on March 28, 2017, to six years and three months in prison for "belonging to a terrorist organization".
Taner Kiliç, President of Amnesty International Turkey, who was arrested in Izmir on June 6, 2017 along with 22 other lawyers in the context of operations against the Gülen organization by President Erdogan. He remained in detention for 14 month.
Özlem Gümüştaş and Sezin Uçar, members of the "Law Firm of the Oppressed" (EHB), were arrested on October 18, 2017, before the Suruç massacre’s trial they monitored. Both lawyers were accused of "belonging to an illegal organization" and disseminating “propaganda for a banned organization". They were released and placed under judicial supervision on October 5, 2018.
Selçuk Kozağaçlı, human rights defender and Secretary General of the Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD), who was arrested on November 8, 2017 in Istanbul and charged with allegedly being a member of a terrorist organization. 19 other colleagues are prosecuted in the same court case.
Ramazan Demir, Secretary General of the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD), known for his interventions in cases concerning police brutality. He was arrested on March 16, 2016, together with 11 other lawyers who represented the 46 Turkish lawyers arrested in 2012 in a separate case. He was released on September 7, 2016 and sentenced to 11 months and 20 days in prison for insulting President Erdogan on January 12, 2018.
Find the list of all the events of the day on https://defendlawyers.wordpress.com/
For more information on the situation in Turkey, please consult the 2019 IDHAE book entitled 2019 – Turquie : Le Crépuscule des Droits ( available in French only).
Useful links :
Report on the impact of the state of emergency on Human Rights in Turkey
IDHAE website - the World Observatory for Defense Rights and violations of the rights of lawyers
Facebook page of the Observatory of Lawyers
Article by Camera Penale on International Day of the Endangered Lawyer
Article by lawyers for lawyers - Day of demonstration of the Endangered Lawyer