Lawyer Engin Gökoğlu tortured in prison

On 18, 19 and 20 March 2019, three hearings were held in the Istanbul 37th High Criminal Court in the case of 20 lawyers from the People's Law Office, six of them currently in detention. Eighteen human rights lawyers were prosecuted on terrorism-related charges and sentenced to between three and 18 years in prison. The cases of the remaining two human rights lawyers, Oya Aslan and Günay Dağ, remain open due to their absence from all three hearings.

On 18 March 2019, the Chief Justice opened the hearing by stating that the judges would hear the final statements of the defendants and announce the final verdict thereafter. The defence of the human rights lawyers objected by arguing that the case had not yet arrived at the defence phase. The defence further argued that according to the interim decision made by the court on 7 December 2018, the defendants had been given time until the hearing which was scheduled for 18 March 2019 to submit their demands regarding an extension to the scope of the prosecution as well as their responses to the statements made by the witnesses. The court initially rejected these objections, stating that they constituted an attempt at prolonging the legal proceedings. However, the defence lawyers insisted that they had the right to raise all issues related to the accusations during the hearings as well as to discuss their requests submitted to the court between the two hearings. Further, they argued that the court was obliged to at least hear all their requests and statements before pronouncing the final judgement. In reaction to the insistence of the lawyers, the court allowed them to respond to the statements made by the witnesses, and then changed its decision again in the middle of the hearing to only allow for a discussion on the requests regarding the extension of the prosecution. While the defence lawyers drew attention to the irregularities in the legal proceedings and the importance of impartiality and fair trial standards, they received warnings from the court for “objecting to court decisions”, “using accusatory language towards the judges” and “speaking without permission”. The court closed the hearing by announcing that there was nothing left to discuss regarding the accusations, and asked the defendants to prepare their defence for the next day.

On 19 March 2019, the Chief Justice once again opened the hearing by stating that the judges would hear the final statements of the defendants and pronounce the final verdict afterwards. The human rights lawyers called on the judges to recuse themselves, arguing that they had lost their impartiality. The defendants stated that the court was rushing through the case and that it had explicitly violated the Criminal Procedure Code by refusing to allow them to submit their requests and by arbitrarily ordering them to ask for permission to speak in court, thus denying their right to defence. In reaction to these statements, the judges ordered one of the defendants, Selçuk Kozağaçlı, to leave the courtroom on the grounds of his “accusatory language towards the judges”. The defence, the other human rights lawyers and their relatives protested the court’s decision and were all dismissed from the courtroom as a result. After a break, the hearing continued and the court issued an interim decision in the absence of the defence lawyers, rejected their request for the judges to recuse themselves and announced that the final statements of the defendants would be heard the next day.

On 20 March 2019, all of the human rights lawyers, with the exception of Ahmet Mandacı and Zehra Özdemir, and their legal representatives chose not to attend the hearing as an act of protest. However, the court still announced the final verdict in their absence and without hearing their final statements as to the accusations.

Six of the human rights lawyers were charged with "willingly and knowingly aiding a terrorist organization” based on Articles 314-3 and 227-2 of the Turkish Penal Code. Four of them, Ayşegül Çağatay, Yağmur Ereren, Didem Baydar Ünsal and Yaprak Türkmen, were sentenced to three years and nine months in prison. The sentences of the other two human rights lawyers, Ahmet Mandacı and Zehra Özdemir, were reduced to three years, one month and 15 days in prison due to their attendance at the last hearing.

Ten other human rights lawyers, including Selçuk Kozağaçlı and Engin Gökoğlu, were charged with "membership in a terrorist organization" based on the Article 314-2 of the Turkish Penal Code. They were sentenced to between nine and 13.5 years in prison. Selçuk Kozağaçlı was sentenced to prison for 10 years and 15 months and Engin Gökoğlu was sentenced to ten years and six months. Ezgi Çakır was sentenced to eight years in prison. She is currently under house arrest, caring for a small child while her husband remains in hiding.

Barkın Timtik was convicted of “establishing and leading a terrorist organisation” and sentenced to 18 years and nine months in prison based on the Article 314-1 of the Turkish Penal Code.

During the hearings, five of the defendants, Selçuk Kozağaçlı, Engin Gökoğlu, Aycan Çiçek, Aytaç Ünsal and Behiç Aşçı, were on an open-ended hunger strike which they had started on 24 January 2019 to draw attention to the irregularities in the trial. Upon hearing the court sentences on 23 March 2019, the human rights lawyers ended their hunger strike, stating that it had achieved its purpose by revealing the unlawfulness of the trial.

Front Line Defenders expresses its grave concern at the sentencing of these 18 human rights lawyers as it believes that their punishment is solely connected to their peaceful and legitimate human rights activities.

On 5 September 2018, Istanbul’s 37th High Criminal Court ruled to allow all detained lawyers from the People’s Law Office to attend their hearings in person between 10 and 14 September 2018. The Court’s ruling followed the detained lawyers’ starting of a hunger strike on 3 September in protest against the Court’s initial decision to hear the majority of the lawyers through video call.

Between September and December 2017, 17 human rights lawyers from the People’s Law Office were arrested following orders from the Istanbul Criminal Peace Judge. 17 of the 20 lawyers facing charges remain in pre-trial detention in seven different prisons, far from their families and their places of residence. 17 lawyers were accused of transmitting instructions from the DHKP-C’s executive team to its members, while three of them were charged with “being managers of an armed terrorist organisation”. The DHKP-C (the revolutionary people’s liberation party) is considered as a terrorist organisation in Turkey.

After the defenders had spent up to a year in detention, Istanbul’s 37th High Criminal Court had stated that it would hear the majority of the detained lawyers through video call. Only Yaprak Türkmen and Selçuk Kozağaçlı, who have been detained in İstanbul Silivri Prison since their arrest, were to be personally brought to the courtroom for the hearings. The detained lawyers refused to participate in the hearings through video call, and appealed the Court’s decision. However, the Court refused their appeal to be heard in person on such grounds as travel costs, the length of the journeys and security concerns during travel from different prisons to the courtroom. On 3 September 2018, detained lawyers of People’s Law Office began a hunger strike in protest against the Court’s decision, and two days after, on 5 September, the Court ruled to hear all the detained lawyers personally during the hearings. The hearings are due to begin at 10 a.m. on 10 September 2018 at Bakırköy Courthouse, and are scheduled to conclude on 14 September.

One of the charged lawyers, who is not in detention, stated in an interview with the online newspaper Bianet that the Court’s original decision would have violated the right to fair trial because the detained lawyers would not have the possibility to directly examine the evidence brought against them and consult with their lawyers during the hearings. She underlined that the video call system isolates suspects from the proceedings, that suspects can only see the courtroom during their testimony, and that courts continue hearings in many cases even if the suspect is unable to hear or see anything due to connection issues.

On 27 March 2018, the indictment against the twenty lawyers arrested on  from the People’s Law Office was completed by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office’s Terror and Organised Crime Investigation Bureau Prosecution Office and sent to Istanbul’s 37th High Criminal Court.

The indictment claims that the People’s Law Office is a sub-structure of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party (DHKP-C), which is considered a terrorist organisation in Turkey. The indictment further claims that the People’s Law Office was established on the back of instructions from the senior executive board of the DHKP-C, known as the Central Committee.

The lawyers Selçuk Kozağaçlı, Ebru Timtik, Didem Baydar Ünsal, Ahmet Mandacı, Aycan Çiçek, Ayşegül Çağatay, Aytaç Ünsal, Behiç Aşçı, Engin Gökoğlu, Ezgi Çakır, Günay Dağ, Naciye Demir, Süleyman Gökten, Şükriye Erden, Yağmur Erener Evin, Yaprak Türkmen and Zehra Özdemir are accused of transmitting instructions from the DHKP-C’s executive team to its members, who are in detention, convicted, or active from outside.

For these reasons they were charged with “being members of a terrorist organisation”. The other lawyers, Oya Aslan, Barkın Timtik and Özgür Yılmaz, were charged with “being managers of an armed terrorist organization”.

Between September and December 2017, a number of human rights lawyers from the People’s Law Office were arrested following orders from the Istanbul Peace Criminal Judge. They have been accused of having ties to the DHKP-C. They are being detained separately in a number of different prisons, far from their families and their places of residence.