{"id":2352,"date":"2023-06-09T13:20:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-09T06:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/turkiye-justice-prevails-as-four-human-rights-defenders-finally-acquitted\/"},"modified":"2024-11-11T15:42:37","modified_gmt":"2024-11-11T08:42:37","slug":"turkiye-justice-prevails-as-four-human-rights-defenders-finally-acquitted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/blog\/2023\/06\/turkiye-justice-prevails-as-four-human-rights-defenders-finally-acquitted\/","title":{"rendered":"T\u00fcrkiye: Justice prevails as four human rights defenders finally acquitted"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Convictions of four human rights defenders, including Taner K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7, Amnesty T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s Honorary Chair, and Idil Eser, Amnesty T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s ex-director, quashed \u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The decision by a Turkish court to overturn baseless convictions of Amnesty International T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s Honorary Chair and three other human rights defenders is a huge relief, yet also highlights the politically motivated nature of the prosecutions, Amnesty International said today.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ruling on the convictions of Taner K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7, \u0130dil Eser, \u00d6zlem Dalk\u0131ran and G\u00fcnal Kur\u015fun \u2014 four of 11 human rights defenders in the B\u00fcy\u00fckada case, who were convicted in July 2020 \u2014 comes exactly six years after Taner\u2019s initial arrest which was followed the by the arrests of the others just weeks later.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cToday\u2019s ruling brings to an end a travesty of justice of spectacular proportions. While we are hugely relieved that the convictions have finally been quashed, the fact that they were brought in the first place remains unconscionable,\u201d said Agn\u00e8s Callamard, Amnesty International\u2019s Secretary General.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFor six years, we have watched the wheels of injustice grind as the baseless claims levelled against these four brave human rights defenders have been accepted as fact by successive courts. Today\u2019s ruling revealed the true purpose of such politically motivated prosecutions: using the courts as a weapon to silence critical voices.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Taner K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7, a refugee rights lawyer and Honorary Chair of Amnesty\u2019s T\u00fcrkiye section, was arrested in June 2017 and detained in prison for more than 14 months. Despite a complete lack of evidence, in July 2020, he was convicted of \u201cmembership of a terrorist organization\u201d and sentenced to six years and three months in prison. \u0130dil, \u00d6zlem and G\u00fcnal were all sentenced to 25 months for \u201cassisting a terrorist organization\u201d and spent more than three months in behind bars in 2017.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the course of 12 court hearings, every allegation levelled against the four human rights activists was repeatedly and comprehensively proven baseless, including in the state\u2019s own police report.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today\u2019s ruling follows the 2022 decision by the European Court of Human Rights\u2019 to reject T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s referral for review by the Court\u2019s Grand Chamber of&nbsp;&nbsp;their decision that Taner K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7\u2019s detention in 2017-18 violated his human rights.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In May 2022, the European Court reaffirmed that the authorities in T\u00fcrkiye did not have \u201cany reasonable suspicion that Taner K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7 had committed an offence\u201d. It also found that his incarceration on the second set of terrorism-related charges was \u201cdirectly linked to his activity as a human rights defender\u201d.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFor Taner, Idil, \u00d6zlem and G\u00fcnal, their ordeal may be over, but across T\u00fcrkiye many human rights defenders are languishing in jail, living in fear of arrest or facing similar unfounded prosecutions,\u201d said Agnes Callamard.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe will take strength from today\u2019s victory. We will also continue to fight against the relentless curtailing of human rights in T\u00fcrkiye, and on behalf of those who refuse to be silenced by the government\u2019s threats.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Background<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Taner K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7 and \u00d6zlem Dalk\u0131ran are both founding members of Amnesty International T\u00fcrkiye. Over the last 20 years, they have played a crucial role in defending human rights as part of the organization and the wider human rights community in T\u00fcrkiye. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the time of her arrest in July 2017, Idil Eser was the Director of Amnesty International T\u00fcrkiye. G\u00fcnal Kur\u015fun, a lawyer, international criminal law expert and long-standing member of Amnesty International T\u00fcrkiye, is a prominent human rights defender in the country.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Taner K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7 was alleged to have downloaded and used the ByLock messaging app, which the prosecution claimed was used for communication by the G\u00fclen movement, a&nbsp;group blamed for organizing an attempted coup in 2016. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two forensic&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/documents\/eur44\/7331\/2017\/en\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">analyses<\/a>&nbsp;of K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7\u2019s phone commissioned by Amnesty, however, found no trace of ByLock having ever been installed. In June 2018, any legitimacy of the prosecutor\u2019s case was stripped away after the police submitted a report, which also found no evidence of ByLock on K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7\u2019s phone. Nevertheless, merely downloading or using an app would not be sufficient evidence of alleged offences, as concluded in a recent ECtHR judgment concerning another applicant.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u0130dil Eser, \u00d6zlem Dalk\u0131ran and G\u00fcnal Kur\u015fun were among 10 people, dubbed the Istanbul 10, who were detained by police as they attended a workshop on well-being and digital security on 5 July 2017.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On 4 October 2017, an Istanbul prosecutor filed an indictment against the Istanbul 10 and Taner K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7, who was allegedly aware of preparations for the workshop and in contact with two defendants.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At his first trial hearing on 26 October, the judge accepted the prosecutor\u2019s application to merge K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7\u2019s case with that of the other ten, even though the accusations levelled against him had nothing to do with the workshop and the two cases were in no way connected.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The acquittal of these four human rights defenders remains subject to an appeal by the prosecutor.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amnesty has previously published an&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/documents\/eur44\/7331\/2017\/en\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">analysis of the case against Taner&nbsp;K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7<\/a>&nbsp;and detailed&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/latest\/campaigns\/2020\/01\/turkey-istanbul-human-rights-activists-justice\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">further information about the case<\/a>&nbsp;in general.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/about-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u0e40\u0e23\u0e35\u0e22\u0e19\u0e23\u0e39\u0e49\u0e40\u0e1e\u0e34\u0e48\u0e21\u0e40\u0e15\u0e34\u0e21\u0e40\u0e01\u0e35\u0e48\u0e22\u0e27\u0e01\u0e31\u0e1a\u0e41\u0e2d\u0e21\u0e40\u0e19\u0e2a\u0e15\u0e35\u0e49<\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/donate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u0e1a\u0e23\u0e34\u0e08\u0e32\u0e04\u0e2a\u0e19\u0e31\u0e1a\u0e2a\u0e19\u0e38\u0e19\u0e41\u0e2d\u0e21\u0e40\u0e19\u0e2a\u0e15\u0e35\u0e49<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The decision by a Turkish court to overturn baseless convictions of Amnesty International T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s Honorary Chair and three other human rights defenders is a huge relief, yet also highlights the politically motivated nature of the prosecutions, Amnesty International said today.&nbsp; The ruling on the convictions of Taner K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7, \u0130dil Eser, \u00d6zlem Dalk\u0131ran and G\u00fcnal Kur\u015fun [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":0,"_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image-id":0,"_hero_title":"","_hero_content":"","_hero_cta_text":"","_hero_cta_link":"","_hero_alignment":"","_hero_background":"","_hero_size":"","_hero_show":"","_hero_type":"","_hero_embed":"","_hero_video_id":0,"_hero_hide_image_caption":true,"_hero_hide_image_copyright":false,"_nav_style":"","_disable_share_icons":false,"_disable_sidebar":false,"_display_author_info":false,"_hide_featured_image":false,"_hide_featured_image_caption":true,"_maximize_post_content":false,"_reduce_content_width":false,"_sidebar_id":0,"_stretch_thumbnail":false,"byline_context":"","byline_entity":"","byline_is_author":false,"disable_related_content":false,"download_id":0,"download_text":"","show_published_date":true,"show_updated_date":true,"term_slider":"","amnesty_index_number":"","recipients":"","recipients_refresh":"","recipients_refreshed":"","amnesty_umbraco_data":"","document_ref":"","amnesty_updated":"","footnotes":""},"category":[1584],"location":[1588,1587,1589],"resourceType":[],"topic":[],"class_list":["post-2352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","location-southeast-asia","location-thailand","location-world"],"datePosted":"June 9, 2023","mlpRelationships":{"1":3425,"2":2352},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category?post=2352"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=2352"},{"taxonomy":"resource-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resourceType?post=2352"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=2352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}