Four human rights defenders acquitted six years after their arrest

On 6 June 2023, the Istanbul 35th Heavy Criminal Court acquitted four human rights defenders of all charges at the second hearing in the retrial of the Büyükada Case, also known as the #Istanbul10. The retrial took place after the Court of Cassation’s ruling to overturn the human rights defenders’ sentences on 22 November 2022. Günal Kurşun, İdil Eser and Özlem Dalkıran were charged with “aiding an armed terrorist organisation knowingly and willingly,” after they were arrested during a raid on 5 July 2017. Taner Kılıç was charged with with “membership of an armed terrorist organisation,” following his earlier arrest on 6 June 2017.

Günal Kurşun, İdil Eser and Özlem Dalkıran are among the ten human rights defenders who were arrested during a raid on a digital and holistic security workshop on the island of Büyükada in Istanbul on 5 July 2017. After thirteen days in police detention, in the early hours of 17 July 2017, the ten human rights defenders were taken before a judge who ruled for six of them to be arrested pending trial. Taner Kılıç, who had already been detained on 6 June 2017, was also added to the indictment as the 11th defendant in the Büyükada case.

On 1 June 2023, the prosecutor presented his opinion about the defenders during the hearing asking for the acquittal of Günal Kurşun, İdil Eser and Özlem Dalkıran based on a lack of concrete evidence proving that they committed the crime for which they were charged. The prosecutor asked for Taner Kılıç to be punished based on the findings that his phone had access to certain IP addresses used by a chat program called ByLock, an application used exclusively by the Gülen movement. This is an illegal religious group which the Turkish government stated to be responsible for the failed coup in July 2016. In spite of this, the expert report stated that connecting to these IP addresses does not establish the use of this software.

Taner Kılıç addressed the court, saying that he is still fighting to prove his innocence in spite of four different independent expert reports which refute the allegation that he had used the ByLock application. The human rights defender reiterated that the European Court of Human Rights ruled unanimously that his arrest was arbitrary and unlawful, and asked for his acquittal.

Günal Kurşun referred to the widespread smear campaigns and targeting of the human rights defenders from the day of their arrest and said “First we were spies, traitors; then we were accused of aiding terrorist organisations without being a member and now the prosecutor is asking for our acquittal. This is a clear indication of the state of our justice system.” He finished his statement by saying that all he did was defend human rights and said “I would do the same things again and actually I am. I am still a human rights defender.”

The court announced its decision after the lawyers presented their final statements and acquitted all of the human rights defenders due to a lack of evidence. All parties have the right to appeal in seven days.

On 3 July 2020, the Istanbul 35th High Criminal Court handed down its ruling in the case of eleven human rights defenders who had been on trial since 25 October 2017. The court sentenced Taner Kılıç to 6 years 3 months imprisonment for “membership of an armed terrorist organisation” while Günal Kurşun, İdil Eser and Özlem Dalkıran were sentenced to 1 year 13 months (sic) imprisonment for “aiding an armed terrorist organisation knowingly and willingly”. The organisation in question was named by the Turkish government as the Fethullahist Terrorist Organisation/Parallel State Structure (FETO/PDY).

The court acquitted Ali Gharavi, İlknur Üstün, Nalan Erkem, Peter Steudtner and Şeyhmus Özbekli. Veli Acu and Nejat Tastan were also acquitted, against a request from the prosecutor.

The decision did not come unanimously. One of the three judges of the panel opposed the verdict, saying that all four defendants should have been acquitted as the accusations against them were not substantiated. He is expected to detail his dissenting opinion in the justified verdict. The four human rights defenders will appeal the ruling.

The judgement came three years after the arrest of 10 human rights defenders during a workshop in Buyukada, Istanbul and seven months after the prosecutor submitted his final assessment, requesting the conviction of six human rights defenders.

During the previous hearing held on 19 February 2020, the court had adjourned the hearing after permitting only six of eleven defenders to present their statements. The next hearing was set to take place on 3 April 2020 but then postponed to 3 July due to the pandemic restrictions. During the final hearing, the remaining four human rights defenders presented their final statements

All human rights defenders and lawyers reminded the court that all allegations against the defenders were unverified and discredited by both forensic experts and through evidence presented by the defence which were ignored by the prosecution.

In their statements, the human rights defenders referred to the regional and international standards for the protection of human rights defenders and said that the “Buyukada trial is a clear warning to civil society saying that working for justice, human rights and freedoms are not welcome and will not be tolerated.”

Front Line Defenders condemns the convictions which are based on fabricated and unfounded evidence and a trial lacking due process. It calls on the Turkish government to stop the persecution of human rights defenders, civil society and journalists.

On 21 June 2018, the fourth hearing of Taner Kılıç and 10 human rights defenders known as the Istanbul 10 was held in Istanbul’s 35th High Criminal Court. The request by Taner Kılıç’s lawyer to release him was refused by the court despite the lack of evidence supporting his detention. The next hearing is scheduled for 7 November 2018.

Taner Kılıç, a human rights lawyer and the former Chair of Amnesty Turkey, was arrested on 6 June 2017. He and the 10 human rights defenders were charged with “membership of an armed terrorist organization,” and, if found guilty, they face up to 15 years in prison. On 31 January 2018, Istanbul’s 35th High Criminal Court ordered the release of Taner Kılıç; however, this order was revoked by the Istanbul’s 36th High Criminal Court, before he was released, upon the request of the Prosecutor’s Office. Taner Kılıç is currently the only suspect in this case who is still detained.

The charges against Taner Kılıç are based on the testimony of an anonymous witness, who stated during the hearing that he overheard allegedly incriminating conversations during a visit to the toilet. The charges are also based on the alleged downloading of a secure messaging app called ByLock and the fact that he opened an account with Bank Asya, which is allegedly linked to the Gülen movement. During the hearing, a second police report was submitted confirming the findings of the first report and that of four independent forensic analyses, which found no trace of ByLock on Taner Kılıç’s phone. Despite the lack of reliable evidence supporting his detention, the court ruled against his release. Taner Kılıç, who has been held in İzmir Şakran Prison, joined the hearing via video call.

Front Line Defenders is concerned by the ongoing detention of Taner Kılıç and the false accusations against him and 10 human rights defenders. It urges the authorities in Turkey to immediately and unconditionally drop all charges against Taner Kılıç and Istanbul 10 and release Taner Kılıç, as it is believed that he is being held solely as a result of his legitimate and peaceful work in the defence of human rights.