The lawyer Ebru Timtik has lost her life!
Lawyer Ebru Timtik, a member of the People's Right Bureau (HHB), was on death fast for 238 days. She died on 27 August 2020, in the late afternoon, in the hospital where she was forcibly detained by the Turkish government!
Ebru went on hunger strike for 238 days against injustice, respect for the right to a fair trial.
Please accept our sincere condolences and the expression of our deepest sympathy.
Our thoughts are with you. With all our affection and friendship.
Free the people's lawyers!
Since the attempted coup d'état in July 2016, Turkey has entered an era of purge where thousands of people have been and still are dismissed under the anti-terrorism law currently in force: professors, journalists, lawyers...
There are 21 Turkish lawyers who have been in prison for 2 years accused of terrorist acts when their only crime is to have defended people on the same charge. Unfortunately, this term in Turkey today justifies the relentless struggle that the Ankara government has been waging for several years against all forms of dissent.
They are members of the Association of Progressive Lawyers (ÇHD) and the People's Legal Bureau (HHB). They are lawyers for the people, imprisoned for their defence, for the defence of the poor, the oppressed and for the defence of rights and freedoms. They have been accused firstly of defending Nuriye Gülmen and Semih Ozakça (the two teachers who have been on hunger strike for more than a year in order to get their jobs back, lost due to a decree-law) but also of participating, among other things, in the trials of young people who have lost their lives due to police violence. They are also in prison for representing the families of the 301 miners killed in an explosion in Soma and Ermenek. Or the students imprisoned for demanding a free, scientific and democratic university education. They are the lawyers of TAYAD members and artists of the people. They fight against prostitution and fascism.
For this reason, their offices were searched and threatened by the government in power. Arrested with the use of force by the police in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, they are subject to a policy of dispersion in ten different prisons. Faced with physical violence and torture, they also suffer reprisals in the form of visiting bans, censorship of mail or telephone calls. Some are in solitary confinement cells. Others are transferred to other prisons without their personal belongings and without informing their families or lawyers.
The rule of law has disappeared in Turkey. However, despite the conditions of detention they suffer on a daily basis, these lawyers, as lawyers of the people, continue to defend their clients and practise as lawyers in prison. It is therefore essential to support these 21 Turkish lawyers, who identify with the cases they are invoking. Because in this country, defending a person accused of terrorism makes you an accomplice to the same charge. Politicians, NGO representatives, lawyers, democrats and trade unions must support the lawyers in prison.
Only this necessary solidarity with all Turkish lawyers imprisoned for having defended their integrity by fighting the oppression of the ruling power with fairness will allow justice to be restored in the country. And for this, it is indispensable for them to have the support of their international colleagues. The mission of a lawyer is to give everyone a fair trial. It is up to every person committed to ensuring that the fundamental rights of individuals are respected to work so that the lawyers of the Turkish people can benefit from true justice, such as that which they defend at the risk of their lives.
Support the lawyers imprisoned in Turkey and do not let the second lawyer who has been on hunger strike for justice for 207 days die as a lawyer!
Dogan Presse Agence
#EbruTimtik