Human Rights Watch
Verdict Aims to Stifle Human Rights Movement
July 6, 2020
(Istanbul) – The conviction of four human rights defenders on July 3,
2020, without evidence of any criminal wrongdoing, is politically
motivated and an effort to stifle the legitimate work of Turkey’s
human rights movement, Human Rights Watch said today.
Istanbul Assize Court no. 35 convicted Taner Kılıç, Amnesty
International Turkey’s honorary chair, on charges of membership of a
terrorist organization, sentencing him to six years and three months
in prison. The court convicted three others on charges of aiding and
abetting a terrorist organization and imposed prison sentences of 25
months. The three are: İdil Eser, Amnesty Turkey’s former director;
Özlem Dalkıran, a rights activist and member of NGO Citizens’
Assembly; and Günal Kurşun, member of the Human Rights Agenda
Association. The court acquitted seven others though the prosecutor
has stated he will appeal against the acquittal of two among them,
Nejat Taştan and Veli Acu. The four convicted are currently at liberty
while they appeal the verdict.
“In three years the police and prosecutors have produced not a shred
of evidence of criminal activity by any of the 11 rights defenders who
stood trial,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director
at Human Rights Watch. “Four have been convicted for their legitimate
human rights work in another trial, which demonstrates how any
independence in Turkey’s justice system has collapsed under political
pressure.”
Kılıç was first detained in Izmir on June 6, 2017, and days later
placed in pretrial detention, where he spent 14 months. His case was
combined with that of ten other rights defenders detained on July 5,
2017 in a police raid on a human rights education workshop they were
participating in on Büyükada Island, Istanbul. A German and a Swedish
national were among the defenders.
All 11 were subjected to a concerted media smear campaign suggesting
that they were involved in a conspiracy to foment chaos in the country
and alleging that they had links with a number of outlawed
organizations. The media pursuing the smear campaign were closely
aligned with the government and made allegations against the
defendants before the prosecutor’s office had prepared an indictment
against them and during their trial. Their first trial hearing was in
October 2017, and the court issued its verdict at the 13th hearing.
The decision cited no grounds for the convictions, and Human Rights
Watch is awaiting the court’s full reasoned decision.
The indictment against Kılıç alleged that he had used the encrypted
communication application ByLock on his phone. The app is alleged to
have been used by supporters of the Fethullah Gülen movement, which
Turkey deems a terrorist organization responsible for the July 2016
coup attempt. Several expert reports during the trial demonstrated
that Kılıç had never had or used the app.
In the case against the ten defendants detained on Büyükada, the
indictment cited ephemera gathered from their laptops and phones, none
of it amounting to evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
“The court’s verdict convicts four people but is an attack on the
entire human rights movement in Turkey,” Williamson said. “We hope the
higher courts will do their duty and reverse this miscarriage of
justice.”
