Amnesty International

 – Activists pledge
solidarity with prominent human rights defender

Feb. 15, 2021

Responding to the conviction and sentencing of veteran human rights
lawyer, Eren Keskin to six years in jail on absurd grounds of
‘membership of an armed terrorist organization’, Amnesty
International’s Turkey Campaigner, Milena Buyum, said:

“Today a human rights lawyer who has spoken out against injustice for
more than three decades, has become the victim of injustice herself.

“Eren Keskin has dedicated her life to defending the rights of women,
prisoners and fought for justice for the families of the disappeared.
This verdict is yet another shocking example of anti-terrorism laws
being used to criminalize legitimate, peaceful activities.

“’I have been prosecuted many times and jailed for my thoughts. I’m
still here. I’m not going anywhere,’ Eren Keskin tweeted after she was
sentenced.

“We are not going anywhere either.”

Background

Eren Keskin is a prominent human rights defender and lawyer in Turkey.
She is the Co-Chair of the Human Rights Association (İHD).

Today, four defendants in the case concerning Özgür Gündem, a daily
newspaper that was shuttered in 2016, received prison sentences on
"terrorism-related" charges.

The court sentenced Zana Kaya, the newspaper's editor-in-chief to one
year and 13 months in prison for "making propaganda for a terrorist
organization."

The newspaper's grant holder Kemal Sancılı, managing editor İnan
Kızılkaya and attorney Eren Keskin have been sentenced to six years
and three months in prison for "being a member of an armed terrorist
organization." They remain at liberty pending their appeals.