Threat of HDP ban: European lawyers demand credible EU response

Download PDF A few days ago Turkey’s Chief prosecutor of the Supreme Court filed an indictment seeking dissolution of the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). The indictment accuses HDP leaders and members „of acting in a way that flouts the democratic and international rules of law, colluding with the terrorist PKK and affiliated groups, and …

LAWYERS’ ASSOCIATIONS DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF TURKISH LAWYER OYA ASLAN

To the president of Istanbul 37. Heavy Penal Court No: 2020/247 Düsseldorf, Barcelona, Vienna, Brussels. 11.01.2020 LAWYERS’ ASSOCIATIONS DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF TURKISH LAWYER OYA ASLAN We, the undersigned international lawyers’ associations, have for many years condemned the criminal prosecutions and investigations targeted against lawyers in Turkey and internationally for performing the duties of …

Joint Statement: Case concerning the killing of Tahir Elçi and lack of effective investigation into his death

Case concerning the killing of Tahir Elçi and lack of effective investigation into his death The undersigned organisations have been following recent developments in the case involving the prosecution of police officers allegedly involved in the killing of human rights lawyer Tahir Elçi in November 2015. We are concerned that the prosecution, as well as …

LAWYERS’ ASSOCIATIONS PROTEST ARREST OF TURKISH LAWYER SEDA SARALDI

The following statement was issued by the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), European Democratic Lawyers (AED-EDL), and the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights (ELDH) on 31 October 2020:  Another lawyer from Turkey has been arrested Free Seda Saraldı ! We, the undersigned international lawyers’ associations, have for many years …

Lawyers on hunger strike near death

The undersigned organisations have been following recent developments in the cases of human rights lawyers Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal, who have been on hunger strike since February 2020. On 5 April 2020, the Turkish Day of the Lawyer, Timtik and Ünsal announced that they would persist in their hunger strike even if it leads …

Solidarity with Turkish Bar Associations

European lawyers express solidarity with Turkish Bar Associations The European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights (ELDH) expresses its grave concern at the news that a peaceful demonstration of the presidents and other members of almost 60 Bar Associations was blocked by the police, without any legal ground, from entering Ankara. The …

ELDH Statements and reports – in solidarity with detained lawyers in Turkey

On 2 April 2020, more than 70 lawyers from all over the world followed the call for a video conference in solidarity with lawyers imprisoned for political reasons in Turkey, with interventions from Ayşe Bingöl of the Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project, Barbara Spinelli of Giuristi Democratici, and Şerife Ceren Uysal, of the Progressive …