Scores of Ankara lawyers face returning to prison

It has nearly been 7 years since the Turkish Government started a crackdown on Turkish lawyers. Targeted lawyers are mostly with alleged links to the Gulen Movement as well as others who did not lend their absolute support to Erdogan following the failed coup attempt. More than 1600 lawyers have so far been arrested. 551 lawyers have been sentenced to a total of 3356 years in prison over terrorism-related charges, mostly for membership in a terrorist organisation. It is terrible to think that even after so long certain Turkish lawyers are still being persecuted for nothing but acting for persons associated with the Gulen Movement.

Turkish Constitution and the European Convention of Human Rights enshrines the freedom of association.  On the other hand, according to Articles 23-24 of the UN Basic Principles of the Role of Lawyers, lawyers are entitled to “freedom of association and assembly” and to “form and join self-governing professional associations to represent their interests, promote their continuing education and training and protect their professional integrity”. They shall have the right  to join or form local, national or international organizations and attend their meetings, without suffering professional restrictions by reason of their lawful action or their membership in a lawful organization.

According to the indictment on which their convictions were based, all of the lawyers seem to be executive or ordinary members of a particular lawyers’ association, namely Hukuk & Hayat (Law & Life), which used to operate in Ankara but has since been shut down by a decree law during the state of emergency which was declared immediately after the failed coup attempt.

Until it was closed down Hukuk & Hayat was providing professional training, organising social events and as well as extending assistance, sometimes even financial, to trainees and junior lawyers through their arguably toughest years in the profession.

It seems that the public prosecutor just picked up the official members list from the Governorship’s office where the records of each and every association were kept and charged them with “membership of an armed terrorist organisation” despite the fact that an official report which the police prepared after looking into the activities of the association concluded that no offence was committed.

According to the indictment, the only evidence that Hukuk & Hayat was directly linked to the Gulen Movement was that it was shut down by a decree law. The court did not think it was necessary to look beyond that. The public prosecutor did not offer a shred of evidence as to how exactly such a professional organisation was being run by the Gulen Movement. He seems to have an interesting approach when linking individual lawyers to the Gulen Movement. Sometimes he uses the identity of a particular board member and his clients to link Hukuk & Hayat to the Gulen Movement. Then he links its ordinary and board members to the Movement and charges them with membership to an armed organisation.

The criminal activities which led to the conviction and imprisonment of so many lawyers are such that they not only would not constitute an offence in any jurisdiction but probably be praised.

The court considered that attending events and talks organised by Hukuk & Hayat was good evidence for establishing a lawyer’s link to an armed terrorist organisation.

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