Nimet Tanrıkulu released from pre-trial detention
On 4 March 2025, woman human rights defender Nimet Tanrıkulu was released from pre-trial detention by the Istanbul 24th Heavy Criminal Court judge at the first hearing, after having spent over three months in detention. She was held in Ankara Sincan women’s prison since her arrest on 26 November 2024, after being falsely charged with “membership of a terrorist organisation” under article 314/2 of the Turkish Penal Code for her human rights related activities. Her next hearing is scheduled for 22 April 2025.
On 4 March 2025, woman human rights defender Nimet Tanrıkulu’s trial will begin at the Istanbul 24th Heavy Criminal Court. She has been falsely charged with “membership of a terrorist organisation” under article 314/2 of the Turkish Penal Code for her human rights related activities and has been imprisoned since she was detained on 26 November 2024.
On 30 November 2024, the Ankara 4th Criminal Judgeship of Peace ruled for the arrest of woman human rights defender Nimet Tanrıkulu after she was held for four days in detention. Following the arrest order, she was transferred to Sincan Women’s Prison in Ankara. The human rights defender was among the 14 people who were detained on 26 November 2024 during a mass operation targeting politicians, trade unionists, and human rights defenders.
Nimet Tanrıkulu is a long-standing woman human rights defender, feminist, founding member of Human Rights Association and Women for Peace Initiative, and supporter of the group Saturday Mothers. She was arrested during the 1980 military coup in Türkiye and tortured in custody which resulted in injuries that continue to cause health problems for her. The treatment the woman human rights defender endured inspired her to commit her life to the promotion and protection of human rights. This work has led to her being arrested, detained and having faced prosecution numerous times. Nimet Tanrıkulu has also been involved in the establishment of several cultural and human rights organisations and in 2005, the Istanbul Medical Chamber honoured her with the Sevinç Özgüner Human Rights, Peace and Democracy Award. She has an MA degree from İstanbul Bilgi University, with her dissertation focusing on women and peace.
On 4 March 2025, woman human rights defender Nimet Tanrıkulu was released from pre-trial detention by the Istanbul 24th Heavy Criminal Court judge at the first hearing, after having spent over three months in detention. She was held in Ankara Sincan women’s prison since her arrest on 26 November 2024, after being falsely charged with “membership of a terrorist organisation” under article 314/2 of the Turkish Penal Code for her human rights related activities. Her next hearing is scheduled for 22 April 2025.
Nimet Tanrıkulu is a long-standing woman human rights defender, feminist, founding member of Human Rights Association and Women for Peace Initiative, and supporter of the group Saturday Mothers. She was arrested during the 1980 military coup in Türkiye and tortured in custody which resulted in injuries that continue to cause health problems for her. The treatment the woman human rights defender endured inspired her to commit her life to the promotion and protection of human rights. This work has led to her being arrested, detained and having faced prosecution numerous times. Nimet Tanrıkulu has also been involved in the establishment of several cultural and human rights organisations and in 2005, the Istanbul Medical Chamber honoured her with the Sevinç Özgüner Human Rights, Peace and Democracy Award. She has an MA degree from İstanbul Bilgi University, with her dissertation focusing on women and peace.
On 4 March, the woman human rights defender was brought into the Istanbul 24th Heavy Criminal Court for her first hearing. She was supported by cheers of a crowd of advocates, including representatives from the EU Delegation in Türkiye, human rights and women’s rights organisations, feminist groups, journalists, and MPs.
Nimet Tanrıkulu outlined to the Court her testimony of being insulted by the police during the arrest, as well as her transfer and detention at the Ankara Anti-Terror headquarters. She asserted that the police took photographs of her, without her approval, while she was in the holding cell, despite her photos and fingerprints having already been taken.
Refusing all accusations directed against her, she stated that she has been a human rights defender and has actively taken part in the struggle for feminism, equality and peace for over forty years. She maintained that “This prosecution is an attempt to silence and devalue us. We are sensitive to calls for peace and a democratic society. Our prime goal is the protection of the right to life. If peace is on the agenda today, the role of the human rights defenders is undeniable.”
The Court ruled for the release of Nimet Tanrıkulu on parole, however imposed a travel ban on her and require the woman human rights defender to appear at the police station every fifteen days. Her next hearing session is scheduled for 22 April 2025.
Front Line Defenders welcomes the release of woman human rights defender Nimet Tanrıkulu from pre-trial detention. However, the organisation condemns the judicial controls imposed on her, including the travel ban, and continues to call for charges to be dropped, as it believes the accusations against her to be related to her peaceful human rights work and part of the systematic misuse of Türkiye’s anti-terror legislation to silence human rights defenders and opposition.
On 4 March 2025, woman human rights defender Nimet Tanrıkulu’s trial will begin at the Istanbul 24th Heavy Criminal Court. She has been falsely charged with “membership of a terrorist organisation” under article 314/2 of the Turkish Penal Code for her human rights related activities and has been imprisoned since she was detained on 26 November 2024.
Nimet Tanrıkulu is a long-standing woman human rights defender, feminist, founding member of Human Rights Association and Women for Peace Initiative, and supporter of the group Saturday Mothers. She was arrested during the 1980 military coup in Türkiye and tortured in custody which resulted in injuries that continue to cause health problems for her. The treatment the woman human rights defender endured inspired her to commit her life to the promotion and protection of human rights. This work has led to her being arrested, detained and having faced prosecution numerous times. Nimet Tanrıkulu has also been involved in the establishment of several cultural and human rights organisations and in 2005, the Istanbul Medical Chamber honoured her with the Sevinç Özgüner Human Rights, Peace and Democracy Award. She has an MA degree from İstanbul Bilgi University, with her dissertation focusing on women and peace.
On 12 December, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s office submitted the indictment with the request to prosecute Nimet Tanrıkulu for “membership to a terrorist organisation” under article 314/2 of the Turkish Penal Code, based on vague arguments rather than substantive evidence. The indictment lists her travels and the meetings she attended as part of her peacebuilding and human rights work, her phone communications with people who have been subject of “legal action” or were suspects of the accusation or charges of terrorist propaganda or membership to a terrorist organisation. The indictment also refers to a witness statement. The accused acts predominantly took place between 2012 and 2015, a period during which a Kurdish peace process was in action to resolve the decades long conflict between the Turkish government and the PKK (Kurdish Workers' Party).
The indictment was accepted by the Ankara 17th Heavy Criminal Court, but the file was sent to Istanbul 24th Heavy Criminal Court due to a lack of jurisdiction.
On 26 November 2024, Nimet Tanrıkulu was arrested in her house in Istanbul during an anti-terror operation. This took place as part of a confidential investigation initiated by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s office. The woman human rights defender was then transferred into the custody of the Ankara Anti-Terror Detention. She was held there in custody for 3 days until she was taken to the prosecutor to give her statement.
On 29 November the Chief Public Prosecutor’s office referred Nimet Tanrıkulu to the Ankara 4th Criminal Judgeship of Peace with the request for her arrest pending prosecution. She was remanded on pre-trial detention along with eight others and was transferred to Sincan Women’s Prison in Ankara, where she is still being held.
Nimet Tanrıkulu will not be transferred to Istanbul for the hearing but was asked to join remotely from the prison through the Audio Visual Information System.
Front Line Defenders calls for the immediate release of Nimet Tanrıkulu and for all charges to be dropped against her. The organisation believes the accusations against her to be related to her peaceful human rights work and part of the systematic misuse of Türkiye’s anti-terror legislation to silence human rights defenders and opposition.
On 30 November 2024, the Ankara 4th Criminal Judgeship of Peace ruled for the arrest of woman human rights defender Nimet Tanrıkulu after she was held for four days in detention. Following the arrest order, she was transferred to Sincan Women’s Prison in Ankara. The human rights defender was among the fourteen people who were detained on 26 November 2024 during a mass operation targeting politicians, trade unionists, and human rights defenders.
Nimet Tanrıkulu is a long-standing woman human rights defender, feminist, founding member of Human Rights Association and Women for Peace Initiative, and supporter of the group Saturday Mothers. She was arrested during the 1980 military coup in Türkiye and tortured in custody which resulted in injuries that continue to cause health problems for her. The treatment the woman human rights defender endured inspired her to commit her life to the promotion and protection of human rights. This work has led to her being arrested, detained and having faced prosecution numerous times. Nimet Tanrıkulu has also been involved in the establishment of several cultural and human rights organisations and in 2005, the Istanbul Medical Chamber honoured her with the Sevinç Özgüner Human Rights, Peace and Democracy Award. She has an MA degree from İstanbul Bilgi University, with her dissertation focusing on women and peace.
On the morning of 29 November 2024, Nimet Tanrıkulu and twelve others including trade unionists, politicians and a lawyer who were also detained, were brought to the Ankara Courthouse for their statements to be taken by the prosecutor. The prosecutor then referred the thirteen people, including the woman human rights defender, to the Ankara 4th Criminal Judgeship of Peace with a request of pre-trial detention for all on the suspicion of membership of a terrorist organisation. The hearing at the Judgeship lasted until 4.00 a.m. of 30 November, with a final decision to arrest and remand nine of the defendants, including the woman human rights defender Nimet Tanrıkulu, in pre-trial detention and release four others under judicial control.
On 26 November 2024, a mass arrest operation was conducted by the police in several cities in Türkiye under a secret investigation initiated by the Ankara Prosecutor’s Office. The police conducted an early morning raid on the woman human rights defender’s house, and after searching the house and confiscating IT equipments, they took Nimet Tanrıkulu to Ataköy police station in Istanbul. She was remanded there until the Ankara anti-terror police team arrived and transferred her to the custody of the Ankara Anti-Terror Department who carried out her questioning on 28 November 2024.
The questions directed at the woman human rights defender during this interrogation were based on the unfounded claims of an informant and technical surveillance data relating to the woman human rights defender such as her passport records and her phone historical traffic search (HTS) reports. She was specifically asked why she had travelled to certain countries abroad or certain cities in Türkiye and about the content of her phone communications with particular people who were arrested during the same operation. The questions referred to dates as early as 2008.
In 2012 and 2018, there were two separate investigations concerning Nimet Tanrıkulu relating to similar accusations. In 2012, the investigation conducted by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office ended with a decision not to prosecute and in 2023, Diyarbakır High Criminal Court suspended the trial based on the 2018 investigation due to the absence of grounds for prosecution.
Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned that Nimet Tanrıkulu has been arrested due to her activities related to her peaceful human rights work, such as attending conferences and meetings which date back almost ten years. The organisation reminds the authorities in Türkiye that building a case only on the confessions of secret witness or suspects benefiting from effective remorse law, violates international fair trial standards.
Front Line Defenders call on the authorities in Türkiye to:
- Immediately and unconditionally release Nimet Tanrıkulu, as the accusations made against her are related to her peaceful human rights work;
- Stop using the anti-terror legislation of Türkiye to harass, detain and imprison human rights defenders;
- Implement the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (EctHR) and stop investigations and prosecutions of human rights defenders solely based on secret witness testimonies;
- Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Türkiye can carry out their activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions, in line with Türkiye’s international human rights obligations and commitments.