Latest news with #IstanbulBarAssociation
Scoop
4 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Criminalisation Of Istanbul Bar Assoc & Dismissal Of Executive Board, A Chilling Attack On The Independence Of Lawyers
GENEVA (30 May 2025) – UN experts* today expressed alarm at the criminal charges against 10 members of the Istanbul Bar Association, and its President, İbrahim Kaboğlu and the arrest of board member Firat Epözdemir, following the Bar Association's statement calling for an effective investigation into the deaths of two journalists in a conflict zone. The President of the Bar Association and its members were charged with disseminating 'terrorist propaganda' and 'public dissemination of misleading information'. 'Criminal prosecution in retaliation for the exercise of free speech is an alarming assault on freedom of expression and lawyers' rights to practice their profession and express their views in line with international standards,' the experts said. 'This attempt to silence the Bar Association by weaponising the law is an appalling violation of international law and sets a troubling precedent.' 'It is particularly unsettling that the criminal investigation follows a statement that called for accountability and justice for journalists killed while doing their work,' they said. 'Efforts to fight impunity, particularly for killings of journalists, should be upheld and not criminalised.' On 21 December 2024, the Istanbul Bar Association issued a statement condemning the deaths of two journalists reportedly killed in a Turkish drone strike in Northern Syria on 19 December 2024. The statement stressed that the targeting of journalists in conflict zones is a violation of international humanitarian law and called for an effective investigation into the deaths of the two journalists. On 22 December 2024, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office launched a criminal investigation against the Bar's leadership, on grounds of disseminating terrorist propagandaand 'publicly disseminating misleading information'. The criminal hearing is scheduled for 28 and 29 May 2025 at the Marmara prison (formerly Silivri prison). Following a lawsuit filed by the same Prosecutor, on 21 March this year, the Istanbul 2nd Assize Court issued a ruling to remove the elected leadership of the Istanbul Bar Association under Article 77/5 of the Attorneyship Law, claiming it had exceeded its professional mandate. The decision mandates the dismissal of the Bar's president and executive board and orders new elections. 'The executive body of a bar association must be able to perform its functions without external interference,' the experts said. They warned that the weaponisation of misinformation and terrorism-related charges to punish and silence calls for justice and accountability was a misuse of the criminal justice system and a clear breach of international law and standards. 'Under international law, counter-terrorism legislation must be sufficiently precise to prevent its use to unjustifiably limit the exercise of fundamental freedoms,' they said. 'This is a case of legal harassment that should be dismissed at the earliest opportunity,' the experts said. 'We call for the immediate release of Firat Epözdemir, who has been detained since 25 January in connection with these accusations.' The experts recalled that the free exercise of the legal profession was crucial to ensure access to justice, oversight of state power, protection of due process and judicial guarantees. 'States must guarantee that those who practice law can do so free from intimidation, obstacles, harassment or interference,' they said, 'their function is key to the right to a fair trial'. The experts have been in touch with Türkiye about their concerns. *The experts: Margaret Satterthwaite, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers; Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; Ben Saul, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism; Ms. Gina Romero, Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
More arrests as Turkey escalates crackdown over protests
Turkey intensified its crackdown over ongoing anti-government protests Friday, arresting the lawyer of the jailed Istanbul mayor and two more journalists in connection with the country's biggest wave of unrest since 2013. Nine days after the arrest and subsequent jailing of Istanbul's popular opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, thousands of demonstrators protested on the streets on Thursday night, despite a growing sense of fear. Overnight, police raided more homes, with Imamoglu saying his lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan had been "detained on fictitious grounds," in a post on X published via the mayor's legal team. "As if the coup against democracy was not enough, they cannot tolerate the victims defending themselves. The evil that a handful of incompetent people are inflicting on our country is growing," he wrote. "Release my lawyer immediately!" It was not immediately clear on what grounds Pehlivan had been detained but opposition broadcaster Halk TV said it was linked to allegations of "laundering assets originating from a crime". The Istanbul Bar Association meanwhile said 20 minors had been arrested between March 22-25 on charges of violating a ban on protests. Of that number, 13 had been released but seven were still in custody, it said in a statement posted on X, indicating it was "closely following" the matter. - Overseas criticism - Turkey's repressive response to its worst bout of street unrest since 2013 has been sharply condemned by rights groups and drawn criticism from abroad. In Washington, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised concerns over Ankara's handling of the protests, and French President Emmanuel Macron denounced its "systematic attacks" on opposition figures and freedom of assembly. Police also detained two Turkish women journalists in dawn raids on their homes, the Turkish Journalists' Union (TGS) said on X. "Another dawn raid. Two of our colleagues who were following the #Sarachane protests were detained," it said, referring to the name of the district where Istanbul City Hall is located. "Let journalists do their job! Stop these unlawful detentions!" the union said. - 'Arbitrary acts to silence journalists' - The move came just hours after the authorities released the last of 11 journalists arrested in dawn raids on Monday for covering the protests, among them AFP photographer Yasin Akgul. "The decision to throw me in jail came even though my identity as a journalist was known, and evidence provided to prove it," Akgul told AFP after he was freed on Thursday. "I hope no other journalists will face a situation like this. But unfortunately, I fear that arbitrary acts to silence journalists and stop them from doing their job will continue in Turkey." The Turkish authorities had on Wednesday detained BBC journalist Mark Lowen who had been covering the protests, holding him for 17 hours before deporting him on grounds he posed "a threat to public order", the broadcaster said. In a statement late Thursday, Turkey's communications directorate said Lowen had been deported "due to a lack of accreditation". In its first statement on the protests, Britain said it expected Ankara to ensure "the upholding of... the rule of law, including timely and transparent judicial processes", a foreign ministry spokesperson said. Also Thursday, Turkey's broadcasting watchdog RTUK slapped a 10-day broadcast ban on the opposition TV channel Sozcu, pointing to alleged violations linked to incitement to "hatred and hostility". - 'I'm scared' - During Thursday night's protest, student demonstrators could be seen being rounded up by the police and taken away, an AFP correspondent said. "We're here for our rights but I'm scared," a 21-year-old protester called Raftel told AFP, his words echoing the unease felt by many others as thousands of young demonstrators continue to flood Istanbul's streets. "There are some very serious illegal things going on here, young people have been beaten for days," said Baturalp Akalin, 25, a rare protester with his face uncovered. "We young people are on the streets of Istanbul to defend our country's democratic rights." So far, more than 1,879 people have been detained since March 19, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Thursday. bur-hmw/rlp
The Independent
08-03-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Protests on International Women's Day in Turkey demand protection from domestic violence
Thousands of women took to the streets of Turkish cities Saturday to mark International Women's Day, protesting inequality and violence against women. On the Asian side of Istanbul, a rally in Kadikoy saw members of dozens of women's groups listen to speeches, dance and sing in the spring sunshine. The colorful protest was overseen by a large police presence, including officers in riot gear and a water cannon truck. The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared 2025 the Year of the Family. Protestors pushed back against the idea of women's role being confined to marriage and motherhood, carrying banners reading 'Family will not bind us to life' and 'We will not be sacrificed to the family.' Critics have accused the government of overseeing restrictions on women's rights and not doing enough to tackle violence against women. Erdogan in 2021 withdrew Turkey from a European treaty, dubbed the Istanbul Convention, that protects women from domestic violence. Turkey's We Will Stop Femicides Platform says 394 women were killed by men in 2024. 'There is bullying at work, pressure from husbands and fathers at home and pressure from patriarchal society. We demand that this pressure be reduced even further,' Yaz Gulgun, 52, said. The Istanbul Bar Association said 10 people had been detained by police, including a lawyer. The women's day events were the first planned public demonstrations since the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, announced a ceasefire last week, bringing hope for an end to a 40-year conflict with the Turkish state. Crowds in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeast, heard a message from the group's imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan in which he said the 'women's issue is bigger than the Kurdish issue.' Gultan Kisanak, a Kurdish politician who was released from prison last year after being convicted of terrorism charges, addressed a rally near the city center. 'A democratic society that does not accept women's will cannot be built. Therefore, women's struggle for freedom is the cornerstone of our people's struggle for freedom and peace,' she said. Many women are expected to gather in the evening on the European side of Istanbul for a Feminist Night March despite a ban. In recent years, authorities have blocked efforts by women to demonstrate in Taksim Square, Istanbul's traditional gathering point for rallies. Nearby metro stations were closed from the early afternoon and streets, including one of the city's main shopping thoroughfares, were sealed off with barriers. The Beyoglu district governor's office said the ban was enforced to prevent 'actions that may disrupt public order and social peace.'
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Turkey's actors, artists under pressure as govt turns up the heat
Ayse Barim, a renowned manager of Turkish television stars, has always steered clear of politics, but that did not help her escape prison on charges of "attempting to overthrow the government". Barim, put into pre-trial detention on Monday, joined a long list of personalities being prosecuted by the authorities, a move denounced by opposition parties that accuse the government of using the judiciary to intimidate dissidents. The charges against Barim date back to 2013 when protests started over the government's urbanisation plans of Gezi park in the heart of Istanbul. Prosecutors accuse her of "pushing" her actors to take part in anti-government demos, a claim she denies. Famous actors including Halit Ergenc, star of the world-famous Turkish series "The Magnificent Century", are also under judicial scrutiny as part of the same probe. Ergenc was summoned for questioning last Friday. For Mehmet Esen, actor and former president of the Turkish Film Workers' Union, it is an attempt to put a stranglehold on the cultural sector, one of the few realms not entirely controlled by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's conservative government. "Artists have great influence in Turkey. What's more, most of them are dissidents. They take a stand against injustice. It's clear that the government wants to break that," Esen said. - Power struggle - Speeches delivered by artists at film festival ceremonies, or the scripts of some Turkish TV series that break audience records, are often critical of the government and touch on pressing issues in society including women's rights or the polarisation between conservatives and secularists. "The cultural sphere has become an area of power struggle between the opposition and the government," said Goksel Aymaz, a sociologist at Marmara University in Istanbul. According to Aymaz, even if Barim was not politically engaged, this did not prevent the government from deeming her "a force" behind the Gezi protests. "As long as she's a prominent figure in the series sector, it doesn't matter whether she's politicised or not," he said. "The government's aim is to reshape the industry by imposing its own influence, in order to perpetuate its power." -Istanbul mayor targeted- Turkish authorities regularly target journalists, lawyers and elected political representatives, especially since the failed 2016 coup against the government. In mid-January, prosecutors opened an investigation against the Istanbul Bar Association on charges of "spreading terrorist propaganda", accusing it of links to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies. The probe was opened because lawyers had called for an investigation into the death of two Turkish Kurdish journalists in Syria in late December, in an area where Kurdish fighters were operating. Since local elections in March last year, 10 opposition mayors have also been arrested, removed from office and replaced by government-appointed administrators. And on Tuesday, three journalists from the opposition TV station Halk TV were arrested for broadcasting an interview with a forensic expert in an investigation into Istanbul's popular Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. Two of them were released under judicial control Wednesday. Imamoglu, Erdogan's main political rival, was summoned to appear before the public prosecutor on Friday, even though he is already the target of numerous other legal proceedings. According to observers, the investigation targeting the television sector could also be aimed at Imamoglu, who was re-elected with fanfare as mayor of Turkey's largest city. Pro-government daily Yeni Safak has already accused Barim of using her influence to support the mayor. "The power of justice is being abused to spread fear in all strata of society. We are not afraid and we will not remain silent", Imamoglu commented on X. His main opposition CHP party also denounced what it described as a "climate of fear". "The government is trying to discourage civil society by showing that it can neutralise the journalists or politicians it trusts," political scientist Mesut Yegen said on the private broadcaster Ilke TV on Tuesday. "Thus it is trying to prevent any street movement that might lead to a call for early elections," he said. bg/ach/fo/js
