À l’attention des barreaux, associations d’avocats et organisations professionnelles européennes démocrates,
Nous prenons acte avec la plus grande préoccupation du procès imminent de M. Ahmed Souab, ancien magistrat puis avocat tunisien, dont l’audience est fixée à la date du 31 octobre 2025 devant le tribunal de première instance de Tunis.
Titulaire du prix Prix Ebru Timtik 2025 pour son engagement en matière de procès équitable, M. Souab a consacré toute sa carrière à défendre l’État de droit, l’indépendance de la justice et les libertés fondamentales. En tant que magistrat administratif, il s’est opposé à des abus d’un régime autoritaire ; en tant qu’avocat, il a pris la défense de détenus politiques ou de magistrats révoqués, et a publiquement dénoncé l’instrumentalisation de la justice. En avril 2025, il a été arrêté et poursuivi sur des accusations liées au terrorisme, après avoir exercé son droit à la liberté d’expression.
L’AED :
• que l’affaire Ahmed Souab dépasse largement le cas d’un seul professionnel ; il s’agit, de manière plus large, de la liberté de l’avocat dans l’exercice de son métier, de l’indépendance des juges et de l’effectivité d’un procès équitable ;
• que l’indépendance de la justice est un pilier indispensable de toute démocratie digne de ce nom, et que les avocats sont les garants fondamentaux de ce principe ; • que les attaques ou pressions dirigées contre des avocats au motif de leur profession ou de leur engagement constituent un recul inacceptable de l’État de droit et concernent l’ensemble de la profession, non seulement dans le pays concerné mais à l’échelle internationale.
À ce titre, nous appelons :
1. Les autorités tunisiennes à garantir que ce procès – et, plus largement, toute procédure visant des avocats ou des professionnels de la justice – respecte strictement les normes internationales relatives aux droits humains : droit à un avocat de son choix, respect du secret professionnel, absence de pression politique sur le pouvoir judiciaire, plein accès à une défense équitable.
2. Nos confrères et consœurs, ainsi que les organisations professionnelles européennes et internationales, à porter une attention accrue sur cette affaire et à manifester leur solidarité avec M. Souab et, plus largement, avec tout avocat dont l’exercice professionnel est menacé par des mesures répressives déguisées.
3. À renforcer, dans nos pays et à l’échelle européenne, la vigilance contre toute instrumentalisation de la justice, pour que les avocats puissent exercer librement et en toute sécurité, et que les institutions judiciaires restent véritablement indépendantes. Nous exprimons à M. Souab notre entière solidarité. Nous considérons qu’en défendant son droit à exercer sa profession, c’est l’ensemble de la justice démocratique qui est en jeu.
For years, these lawyers have faced politically motivated prosecutions in Turkey, marked by flagrant violations of international fair trial standards. They were arrested, tried, and convicted on charges largely derived from their professional duties as defence lawyers, such as attending human rights protests, defending political opponents, or advising clients on their right to remain silent.
Different fact-finding missions have documented grave breaches: judges and prosecutors acting under political pressure, the denial of defense rights, reliance on anonymous witnesses, and punishment of lawyers for performing their professional duties. These findings, which are consistent with reports from UN bodies and leading international NGOs, highlight a systematic erosion of the rule of law in Turkey.
The findings of these missions are not mere allegations but are corroborated by the highest human rights bodies within the Council of Europe itself. The former Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, in her official report, conducted a meticulous examination of the ÇHD trial and concluded that the court ‘rejected all requests for defence witnesses, as well as over 100 separate investigation requests… without any reasoning’ and that the very act of ‘the exercise of the profession of lawyer was considered an aggravating circumstance’ in sentencing. Most alarmingly, the Commissioner found that the conviction relied on evidence such as ‘the persons the lawyers represented’ and their ‘participation in different lawful events’, leading her to the unequivocal conclusion that these elements ‘corroborate the allegation that the legitimate professional activities of a defence lawyer can be considered as incriminating evidence’.
This authoritative finding from the Council of Europe’s own principal human rights advocate was published in 2019. It served as an unequivocal, early warning to the European Court of Human Rights that a Member State was judicializing repression and turning the practice of law into a crime. The Commissioner’s report laid bare a trial so bereft of fairness that it contravened the most fundamental principles of the Convention. That the Court has allowed the subsequent applications from these lawyers to remain in a procedural limbo for years after such a clear and damning indictment from a sister institution is not merely a delay; it is a dereliction of duty. It signals a catastrophic failure to heed its own system’s alarms and a breach of trust with the victims, for whom the Commissioner’s words were supposed to trigger an urgent judicial response, not years of silence.
The credibility of the Court, and the hope of countless victims, hangs in the balance.
Despite the overwhelming evidence of gross violations of fair trial rights, systemic denial of due process, and politically motivated prosecutions, the Court has failed to act with the urgency demanded by the situation. The consequences of this inaction are devastating. Many of the accused lawyers remain behind bars, in prolonged pre-trial detention serving lengthy sentences handed after proceedings that blatantly contravened the European Convention on Human Rights.
Others, including Ebru Timtik, paid with their lives—she died in August 2020 after a 238-day hunger strike demanding the right to a fair trial.
Compounding this injustice is the Court’s protracted procedural inertia in these specific matters. It is a matter of profound alarm that despite applications concerning these mass trials of lawyers being lodged with the Court as far back April 2021, the process of communication—the crucial first step where the Turkish government is formally required to respond to the allegations—has yet to be initiated in numerous cases.
The initial application dated 29 April 2021 comprises complaints pertaining to (pre-trial) detention. Applications regarding the right to a fair trial were made on 15 March 2023.
This years-long delay at the very threshold of examination is indefensible and runs directly counter to the Court’s own established principles on the imperative of expeditious justice, especially where fundamental rights are at immediate risk.
The undersigned firmly denounce the unacceptable delay by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in examining the urgent cases submitted concerning the mass trials of lawyers, human rights defenders in Turkey.
The Court itself has repeatedly stressed the importance of administering justice without delays which might jeopardise its effectiveness and credibility (Scordino v. Italy (no. 1) [GC], § 224) and judged that “Long periods during which the proceedings … stagnate…” without any explanations being forthcoming are not acceptable under the provision of article 6 of the Convention (Beaumartin v. France, § 33).
Undue delay undermines the effectiveness of the right of individual petition under article 34, reducing it to a purely formal mechanism without practical consequence. This delay has not only left individual applicants without remedy but has also emboldened the Turkish authorities to continue their repression with impunity. The Court’s prolonged silence effectively legitimizes these violations and undermines the credibility of the European human rights system as a whole. For lawyers and defenders imprisoned merely for upholding their professional responsibilities, justice delayed has become justice denied.
We recall that the Court has both the mandate and the moral duty to provide effective and prompt remedies to victims of rights violations. In the face of ongoing persecution and systematic abuse, prioritizing and expediting these cases should have been imperative. Instead, the prolonged inaction signals indifference to those for whom the European Court of Human Rights is their last recourse for justice for our collegues of the Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD) and the People’s Law Office (HHB).
We therefore call on the European Court of Human Rights to immediately accelerate the examination of these cases, to issue interim measures where necessary. Anything less would amount to complicity in the erosion of fundamental freedoms, setting a dangerous precedent for Europe and beyond.
Timely examination and determination of these applications are essential to restore confidence in the Court as the final guardian of the rule of law and fundamental freedoms in Europe.
Justice delayed in this context is not merely a procedural shortcoming, delay erodes confidence in the Court itself and weakens the European system of human rights protection
The credibility of the Court, and the hope of countless victims, hangs in the balance. Justice delayed is justice denied. The European Court of Human Rights must act now!
SIGNATURES Arab Lawyers Association, UK Asociación Americana de Juristas Avocats européens démocrates – European democratic lawyers (AED – EDL) Defense Commission of the Barcelona Bar Association European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights (ELDH) Foundation Day of the Endangered Lawyer Human Rights Legal Project – Samos International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) International Association of Russian Advocates Osservatorio avvocati minacciati of Unione Camere penali italiane Progressive Lawyers’ Association (ÇHD), Turkey Republikanischer Anwältinnen – und Anwälteverein e.V. (RAV) Syndicat des avocat.es de France Syndicat des avocats pour la Démocratie The New York City Bar Association
The General Assembly of the European Democratic Lawyers (AED), which took place on February 16-17 2024, marked the beginning of a new era in the fight for fundamental principles such as the rule of law, human rights, and fair trial.
During this critical period, for the first time in the history of AED, a figure who had not previously served as president, Lawyer Selçuk Kozağaçlı, was elected as honorary president. Despite being unjustly and arbitrarily detained, Selçuk Kozağaçlı never wavered in his fight for justice. His imprisonment did not shake his determination and belief; on the contrary, it further strengthened the struggle for justice and freedom among many legal professionals.
Selçuk Kozağaçlı’s honorary presidency will clarify and strengthen AED’s path, which is based on the supremacy of law and the commitment to defending human rights. According to Selçuk Kozağaçlı, “Whether defendant or defense counsel, every lawyer in the courtroom is proof that this noble profession does not surrender to fascism, its underground judiciary, or its corrupt law.”
Our resistance against oppression, injustice, and tyranny will continue until victory is achieved!
Between 6 and 10 November 2023, an international delegation representing 27 law societies, bar associations, human rights groups and legal groups undertook a fact-finding mission to Turkey to interview eight lawyers who have been arrested and detained in circumstances that raise a range of human rights concerns. The delegation also observed two court hearings, the first concerning the criminal proceedings against twelve lawyers who are members of the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) and the second a review hearing for the pre-trial detention of Ms Gülhan Kaya, a prominent human rights lawyer. The aim of the mission was to gather first-hand information on the circumstances of the arrest, imprisonment and trial of the lawyers, and their conditions and treatment in detention, and to assess these against Turkey’s obligations under international human rights law and customary law. The delegation also paid their respects at the grave of Ebru Timtik—a lawyer who died in detention in 2020 during a hunger strike in pursuit of the right to a fair trial. The mission was undertaken due to concerns that lawyers in Turkey have faced interference when practicing their profession and have been identified with their clients and their client’s causes. This has resulted in many lawyers being subjected to intimidation, harassment, arbitrary arrest and detention, unfair trials, torture and other ill-treatment. This has taken place in the context of a crackdown on human rights by the government in the aftermath of a failed military coup attempt in July 2016. Following this event, the government declared a state of emergency, lasting two years, during which it suspended, detained, or fired nearly one-third of the judiciary, who were accused of affiliation with the Gülen movement alleged to have been behind the attempted coup. The Government has been using overly broad anti-terror laws to restrict a range of fundamental human rights including the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association. Lawyers and human rights defenders have found themselves targeted under these laws, including being charged with terrorism offences when taking on human rights cases and conducting their professional duties and advocacy. The lawyers interviewed during the mission are part of a larger group of lawyers who have been prosecuted on various charges including “being a member of a terrorist organisation” and making “terrorist propaganda”. These lawyers are members of Ҫağdaş Hukukçular Derneği (ҪHD) – the Progressive Lawyers Association, whose legal services involve human rights cases, including the representation of clients who are critical of the government of Turkey. ҪHD was dissolved by governmental decree on 22 November 2016, however the association members remained active. In October 2019 it was reopened, but a case was initiated to close it once more. The ҪHD was finally re-established in 2022. Most have also worked at the Halkın Hukuk Bürosu (HHB) – the Peoples` Law Office. The lawyers have been prosecuted in mass trials commonly known as the ÇHD I and ÇHD II trials. The ÇHD I trial started in 2013, when 22 lawyers, who were ÇHD members, were arrested and charged with offences under anti-terrorism legislation. In 2017, a second criminal case was filed, the ÇHD II trial, against 20 lawyers. Eight of the lawyers in the second trial, namely Oya Aslan, Naciye Demir, Günay Dağ, Şükriye Erden, Barkın Timtik, Selcuk Kozağaclı, Ebru Timtik, and Özgur Yılmaz, had also faced prosecution in the first trial. Both cases are based on the same evidence and charges, raising concerns that these trials violate the ne bis in idem principle – the right not to be tried repeatedly on the basis of the same offence, act, or facts.
The undersigned organisations deplore the recent arbitrary designation of Günay Dağ as a “terrorist”. Günay Dağ is a lawyer at the International Bureau of the People’s Law Office and a member of the Progressive Lawyers’ Association (ÇHD). On 30 December 2022, he was added to the list called “list of wanted terrorists” published on the official website of the Ministry of Interior. For the past three years, Günay Dağ has been a political refugee. Although Günay Dağ has never been convicted of a criminal act of terrorism by a court, he is now being labelled as a “wanted terrorist” and member of a terrorist organisation. We fear that Günay Dağ is being identified with his clients or his clients’ causes as a result of discharging his professional functions, in contravention of international and universal law and standards relating to the role of lawyers. Alleged “terrorists” placed on the official list are subdivided into five categories: red, blue, green, orange and grey, according to the ascribed level of threat and/or importance. Günay Dağ has been included in the “green category,” with a reward of two million Turkish Liras offered for information leading directly to his arrest. This list published by the Ministry of Interior is solely based on the provisions of the “Regulation on Rewards to be Offered to Those Who Help in Exposing Terrorist Crimes or Seizing Evidence or Arresting Criminal Perpetrators”, which is known as the “rewards regulation”. However, this regulation does not provide any authorisation to the executive power to establish such a list, nor does it explain how the categories are to be determined or administered. Since the five colours have different amounts of monetary award, it is only known that the green category represents the medium level. This list has become an important tool for persecuting and prosecuting those who are considered as political opponents to the government. Critically, the list contains not only those accused of being directly involved with “terrorism”, but also lawyers that are representing them. With such financial incentives for tips leading to an arrest, which can go up to almost five hundred thousand EURO, it appears that the authorities are trying to reach even persons who have fled and are no longer on Turkish territory. The list includes a total of 971 people accused of being members of 19 different alleged “terrorist organisations”. The well-known journalist Can Dündar, who lives in exile, was also put on the list on 30 December 2022, thesame day as lawyer Günay Dağ, Over the course of several years, a number of legal actions have been initiated by State authorities in Turkey against lawyers in violation of the prohibition of identifying lawyers with their clients. (See Article 18 of the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers: Lawyers shall not be identified with their clients or their clients’ causes as a result of discharging their functions). One of the well-known cases of this type concerns the prosecution of 22 lawyers from the Progressive Lawyers’ Association (ÇHD), which has been ongoing for more than 10 years. Many of the accused ÇHD lawyers have been imprisoned for years, although they have yet to be irrevocably convicted of a criminal offense. Among them are Selçuk Kozağaçlı, the Chair of ÇHD and other colleagues working in the People’s Law Office. Most of them have been acting as lawyers in politically sensitive cases. However, despite the heavy pressure against them, our colleagues who are not yet detained are still trying to pursue their legitimate professional activities as lawyers. Arbitrary listing: The listing entails serious consequences for the person concerned who faces serious risks of imprisonment, stigmatization and other human rights violations. Yet the list lacks a proper legal basis for its implementation. So far, only a decree of the Ministry of the Interior regulates the remuneration for informants. There is no legal provision that regulates who can be put on the list, how persons may be removed from the list nor how the executive authorities may decide establishing such a list, nor how it is managed. The initiation and administration of the list is therefore arbitrary, contravening the principles of legality. Violation of the presumption of innocence, right to a fair trial and right to private and family life: The listing authority does not provide expressly for judicial review, nor does it spell out any procedures for review a judicial authority, despite the fact that listing necessarily results in a serious impairment of the exercise of the rights of those who have been listed. The designation of a person as a terrorist without having been sentenced by a court or tribunal and without due process violates the presumption of innocence and the right to a fair trial. These human rights established under customary international and guaranteed by treaties to which Turkey is a party, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, articles 9 and 14) and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR, articles 5 and 6). In this regard, the European Parliament recently strongly condemned the Turkish government’s disregard for the right to a fair trial in the context of the ECtHR’s 2019 case Kavala v. Turkey. Likewise, sharing personal information openly and illegally on the internet is a violation of the right to private and family life (ICCPR, article 17; ECHR, article 8). INTERPOL blocking Turkey’s list: A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action. It is based on an arrest warrant or a court order issued by the judicial authorities in the requesting country. Member countries apply their own laws in deciding whether to arrest a person. Red Notices are published by INTERPOL at the request of a member country, and must comply with INTERPOL’s Constitution and Rules. In this context, we understand that INTERPOL has rejected most of the requests made by Turkey on the basis of this list, on the grounds that they lacked persuasive evidence and were politically motivated and therefore did not comply with binding INTERPOL regulations. In this regard, the Red Notice request for Can Dündar was rejected by INTERPOL. Conclusion and recommendations: In view of the above, the undersigned organisations call on the Turkish authorities to stop identifying lawyers with their clients or the causes they defend, including by putting an end to their listing as terrorists without due process and a fair trial. Additionally, we urge the Turkish authorities to remove lawyer Günay Dağ and all other lawyers from the “list of wanted terrorists” since their inclusion to this list is based on their legitimate activities as lawyers. Finally, the undersigned organisations call on the Turkish authorities to take all necessary measures to guarantee that all lawyers in Turkey are able to carry out their professional duties without fear of reprisal, hindrance, intimidation or harassment, in order to preserve the independence, integrity of the administration of justice and the rule of law.
This statement was endorsed by Alternative Intervention of Athens’ Lawyers. Asociación Americana de Juristas (AAJ) Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF) Center for Research amd Elaboration on Democracy/Group of International Legal Intervention Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) Défense Sans Frontières – Avocats Solidaires (DSF-AS) European Association of Lawyers for Democracy & World Human Rights (ELDH) European Criminal Bar Association (ECBA) European Democratic Lawyers (AED) Giuristi Democratici Italia Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers Indian Association of Lawyers Institut des droits de l’homme du barreau de Bruxelles International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) International Commission of Jurists Judicial Reform Foundation Lawyers for Lawyers (L4L, the Netherlands) Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NULP, the Philippines) Progressive Lawyers’ Association (ÇHD, Turkey) Republikanischer Anwältinnen und Anwälteverein (RAV, Germany) The National Association of Democratic Lawyers [South Africa] Vereinigung Demokratischer Juristinnen und Juristen eV (VDJ)
Une délégation de plus de 60 observateurs internationaux condamne le jugement de la Cour dans le cadre des poursuites pénales engagées depuis une décennie contre 21 avocats de ÇHD (Progressive Lawyers’ Association) et HHB (People’s Law Office) : La délégation prévient que “le monde entier regarde”.
Cette semaine, nous – plus de 60 avocats de 9 pays
représentant plus de 30 barreaux, ONG et associations professionnelles
d’avocats – avons observé les dernières audiences du procès de masse qui a
débuté en 2013 contre 22 avocats du ÇHD (Association des avocats progressistes)
et du HHB (Bureau du droit du peuple). Il n’en reste désormais plus que 21,
Ebru Timtik étant décédé – en grève de la faim pour un procès équitable – au
cours de ces procédures.
Aujourd’hui, ces avocats ont été condamnés pour
appartenance à une organisation terroriste et participation à la propagande
terroriste, et de longues peines de prison ont été prononcées.
Ces condamnations et ces peines constituent une
violation intégrale du droit à un procès équitable, des Principes de base des
Nations unies relatifs au rôle du barreau et de l’État de droit.
Les seuls faits matériels portés à la connaissance
de la Cour étaient strictement liés aux activités professionnelles des accusés
en tant qu’avocats dans le domaine des droits de l’homme : participation à une
conférence de presse, présence dans ou à proximité d’une manifestation, conseil
à des clients sur leur droit de garder le silence, défense de suspects accusés
de terrorisme, etc. Au cours de l’enquête, certains des avocats accusés ont été
soumis à des écoutes téléphoniques pendant plus d’un an, dans une violation
apparente du caractère absolu du secret professionnel des avocats.
Les Principes de base de l’ONU garantissent
spécifiquement le droit des avocats à participer au débat public et à
s’associer entre eux et stipulent en outre que les avocats ne doivent jamais
être identifiés à leurs clients ou aux causes de leurs clients, ni faire
l’objet de poursuites pour une action conforme à leurs devoirs professionnels.
De plus, nos collègues ont été privés de leur droit
à un procès équitable. Leur demande de temps suffisant pour présenter leur
défense a été rejetée par la Cour, qui n’a accordé que cinq petits jours d’audience
pour 21 défendeurs, et a rejeté la demande des défendeurs de reporter
l’audience afin de permettre un examen adéquat des preuves, en particulier des
documents électroniques dont l’authenticité est sérieusement mise en doute.
Le procès s’est tenu dans une salle d’audience de la
prison de Silivri, avec une forte présence policière. Les accusés ont été
séparés de leurs avocats par deux rangées de policiers, ce qui a empêché les
accusés et leurs avocats de communiquer en toute confidentialité.
Les droits des accusés ont également été violés par
le fait que la procédure n’a pas été menée à son terme dans un délai
raisonnable, le procès étant en cours depuis dix ans sans qu’il y ait de
justification appropriée à la prolongation de la procédure.
De plus, pour plusieurs des accusés, ce procès
repose sur des faits et des preuves qui ont déjà été utilisés dans le procès de
2017 contre sept des mêmes accusés, en violation du principe selon lequel
personne ne doit être jugé deux fois pour la même infraction.
Enfin, nous sommes profondément préoccupés par
l’indépendance du pouvoir judiciaire et l’état de droit. En attaquant ces
avocats pour leur défense des droits de l’homme, ce sont les droits de l’homme,
la démocratie et l’État de droit qui sont assiégés.
Nous sommes toujours fiers d’être solidaires de nos
courageux collègues, et nous demandons une fois de plus leur libération
immédiate.
Le monde entier regarde
.
Signatures:
Barreau d’Amsterdam
Asociación Libre de Abogadas y Abogados, Madrid (ALA)
AVOCATS.BE
– Ordre des barreaux francophones et germanophones de Belgique
Barreau de Berlin
Barreau de Bologne
Barreau de Bordeaux
Barreau de Bruxelles
Conférence
Régionale des Bâtonniers de l Ouest
Criminal Committee of the International Association of
Lawyers
Défense
sans frontières – Avocats solidaires, France (DSF-AS)
Dutch League for Human Rights
Barreau d’Épinal
European Association of
Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights, ELDH
European Democratic Lawyer – Avocats européens démocrates (AED)
Fair Trial Watch
Foundation Day of the Endangered Lawyer
européens Hauts-de-Seine
Institut des droits de l’homme de Montpellier
La Conférence des Bâtonniers de France
Lawyers for Lawyers
Barreau de Liege-Huy
Barreau de Lyon
Barreau
de Marseille
Barreau
de Montpellier Bar
National
Association of Democratic Jurists, Italy (GD)
National
Lawyers Guild, US
Republikanischer
Anwältinnen – und Anwälteverein e.V. (RAV)
Syndicat
des Avocats de France
Syndicat
des Avocats Pour la Démocratie, Belgium
The
Association for the Support of Fundamental Rights Athens, Greece
The Center
of Research and Elaboration on Democracy/ Legal International Intervention
Group
Le Barreau fédéral allemande
L’Observatoire
international des avocats en danger (OIAD), composé de 47 barreaux d’Espagne,
de France, d’Italie, d’Allemagne, de Suisse, de Belgique, de Turquie, du
Cameroun et de la République démocratique du Congo.
Barreau
de Toulouse
UIA-IROL
(l’Institut pour l’État de droit de l’Association internationale des juristes)
Delegation of 60+ International Trial Observers Condemns Court Judgment in Decade-Long Criminal Prosecution of 21 Lawyers from ÇHD (Progressive Lawyers Association) and HHB (People’s Law Office): Delegation Warns That “The World is Watching”
This week, we – more than 60 lawyers from 9 countries representing more than 30 bar associations, NGOs and professional lawyers’ associations – have been observing the final hearings in the mass trial that started in 2013 against 22 lawyers from the ÇHD (Progressive Lawyers Association) and the HHB (People’s Law Office). There are now only 21 left, as Ebru Timtik died – hunger-striking for a fair trial – in the course of these proceedings.
Today,
these lawyers have been convicted on charges of membership in a terrorist
organization and participating in terrorist propaganda, and lengthy prison
sentences have been imposed.
These
convictions and sentences are in total violation of the right to a fair trial, the
U.N. Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers and the rule of law.
The only
material facts brought to the Court were strictly linked to the defendants’
professional activities as lawyers in the field of human rights: taking part in
a press conference, being present in or near a protest, advising clients of
their right to remain silent, defending suspects charged with terrorism, etc.
During the inquiry, some of the accused lawyers were subjected to wiretapping
for over a year, in an apparent violation of the sanctity of legal professional
privilege.
The U.N.
Basic Principles specifically guarantee the right of lawyers to participate in
public debate and to associate with each other and, further, state that lawyers
must never be identified with their clients or their clients’ causes, nor suffer
prosecution for any action in accordance with their professional duties.
Moreover,
our colleagues were deprived of their right to a fair trial. Their request for
sufficient time to present their defence was denied by the Court, which allowed
only five short days of hearings for 21 defendants, and rejected the
defendants’ request to postpone the hearing in order to permit a proper
examination of the evidence, in particular electronic documents the authenticity
of which is seriously questioned.
The trial
was held in a courtroom at Silivri prison, with heavy police presence. The defendants
were separated from their lawyers by two lines of police officers, hindering the
ability of the defendants and their lawyers to communicate with
confidentiality.
The
defendants’ rights were also violated by the failure to complete proceedings
within a reasonable time, as the trial has been ongoing for ten years without a
proper justification for the protracted proceedings.
In
addition, for several of the defendants, this trial relies on facts and
evidence that have already been used in the 2017 trial against seven of the
same defendants, in violation of the principle that no one should be tried
twice for the same offense.
Finally, we
are deeply concerned about the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law.
In attacking these lawyers for their defense of human rights, it is human
rights, democracy and the rule of law that are under siege.
We are
always proud to stand in solidarity with our courageous colleagues, and we once
again demand their immediate release.
The world is watching.
Signatures:
Amsterdam Bar
Association
Asociación Libre de Abogadas y
Abogados, Madrid (ALA)
AVOCATS.BE – Order of
French- and German-speaking bar associations of Belgium
Berlin Bar Association
Bologna Bar Association
Bordeaux Bar Association
Brussels Bar
Associaton
Conférence Régionale
des Bâtonniers de l Ouest
Criminal Committee of the
International Association of Lawyers
Defense Without
Borders – Solidarity Lawyers, France (DSF-AS)
Dutch League for Human Rights
Épinal Bar Association
European
Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights, ELDH
European Democratic Lawyer (AED)
Fair Trial Watch
Foundation Day of the Endangered
Lawyer
Hauts-de-Seine Bar
Association
Human Right Institution of Montpellier
La Conférence des Bâtonniers de France
Lawyers for Lawyers
Liege-Huy Bar Association
Lyon Bar Association
Marseille Bar
Association
Montpellier Bar
Association
National Association
of Democratic Jurists, Italy (GD)
National Lawyers
Guild, US
Republikanischer
Anwältinnen – und Anwälteverein e.V. (RAV)
Syndicat des Avocats
de France
Syndicat des Avocats
Pour la Démocratie, Belgium
The Association for
the Support of Fundamental Rights Athens, Greece
The Center of Research
and Elaboration on Democracy/ Legal International Intervention Group
The German Federal Bar
The International
Observatory for Lawyers in Danger (OIAD) composed by 47 bar associations from
Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Turkey, Cameroon and
Democratic Republic of Congo
Toulouse Bar
UIA-IROL (the
Institute for the Rule of Law of the International Association of Lawyers)
En 2013, il
y a dix ans, un procès de masse a débuté contre 22 avocates et avocats, tous
membres de l’organisation d’avocats Progressive Lawyers’ Association (ÇHD,
Turquie) et du People’s Law Office (HHB). Depuis, jusqu’à trois audiences ont
eu lieu chaque année – d’abord devant la “Cour d’assises spéciale”
(la Haute Cour pénale), puis, en 2014, après un changement dans la loi de
procédure pénale de la Turquie, devant la Haute Cour penale ordinaire.
Tous les avocats en question ont été condamnés ou font
l’objet de poursuites pour leurs activités professionnelles. En violation des Principes
de base des Nations unies relatifs au rôle du barreau, ils sont, d’une part,
identifiés aux causes de leurs clients et, d’autre part, limités dans leur
liberté d’expression, qui inclut le droit de prendre part à des débats publics
sur les droits de l’homme.
Plusieurs des accusés, dont le président du ÇHD, Selçuk
KOZAGAÇLI, ont déjà été soumis à des années de détention provisoire. L’une des
accusées de ce procès, Ebru Timtik, est mort pendant sa grève de la faim pour
obtenir des procès équitables devant les tribunaux turcs.
Des avocats d’Europe et d’autres continents ont observé
toutes les audiences. Cette semaine, les observateurs internationaux
comprennent plus de 60 avocats de huit pays européens et des États-Unis :
Autriche, Belgique, France, Allemagne, Grèce, Italie, Pays-Bas,
Espagne/Catalogne et États-Unis. Les avocats représentent divers barreaux
locaux, des confédérations européennes et internationales de barreaux et
d’autres organisations d’avocats.
L’article 10 de la Déclaration universelle des droits de
l’homme et l’article 14 du Pacte international relatif aux droits civils et
politiques imposent à la Turquie de garantir à tous les prévenus un procès
équitable et public devant un tribunal compétent, indépendant et impartial.
Auparavant,
en 2021, à l’occasion de la Journée internationale du procès équitable, dédiée
la Turquie cette année-là, le jury est arrivé à la conclusion que ces normes
internationales pour un procès équitable sont fréquemment violées en Turquie.
Cette
semaine, les observateurs internationaux suivent de très près le procès de ÇHD
afin de déterminer si le tribunal respectera les normes internationales en
matière de procès équitable et si les violations antérieures de ces principes
au cours de ce procès seront corrigées par le tribunal.
Les procès contre les avocats de ÇHD s’inscrivent dans un
schéma plus large d’attaque contre les avocats en Turquie et d’identification
de ceux-ci avec leurs clients. Les avocats sont injustement criminalisés et
poursuivis pour avoir rempli leurs obligations professionnelles. Cette
situation est intolérable et constitue une violation manifeste du droit
international. De plus, les observateurs internationaux ont conclu que les
normes internationales du procès équitable n’ont pas été respectées lors des
audiences qu’ils ont observées précédemment.
Nous demandons donc la libération immédiate de tous les
avocats incarcérés en raison de leur travail sur des affaires politiques. Ce
n’est pas un crime d’être un avocat. Nous continuerons d’insister pour mettre
fin à la criminalisation du simple exercice de la profession d’avocat et pour
faire respecter les principes fondamentaux de l’État de droit, y compris le
droit à un procès équitable pour tous, en Turquie et ailleurs dans le monde.
Signataires:
European Association of
Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights, ELDH
La Conférence des
bâtonniers
L’association Défense
Sans frontière – Avocats Solidaires (Defense Without Borders – Solidarity
Lawyers, France (DSF-AS)
Giuristi Democratici – Association
nationale des juristes démocrates, Italie
UIA-IROL (the Institute for
the Rule of Law of the International Association of Lawyers)
Lawyers for Lawyers, Pays
Bas
Le Barreau fédéral
allemand
Union of Italian Penal
Chambers (UCPI)
Republikanischer Anwältinnen
– und Anwälteverein e.V. (RAV)
L’Observatoire
International des Avocats en Danger (OIAD)
The Center of Research and
Elaboration on Democracy/ Legal International Intervention Group
L’association catalane
pour la Défense de droits de l’homme
La commission de défense
de l’association du Barreau de Barcelona
Le Barreau de New York
City
The Foundation of the
Day of the Endangered Lawyer
The Dutch League for
Human Rights
Avocats Européens
Démocrates / European Democratic Lawyers
The Association for the
Support of Fundamental Rights Athens, Greece
L’association du Barreau
de Marseille
Fair Trial Watch
L’association du Barreau
de Berlin
L’association du Barreau
de Bordeaux
Conférence Régionale des
Bâtonniers de l Ouest
L’association du Barreau
de Epinal
The International
Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL)
National Union of
People’s Lawyers, the Philippines (NULP)
Asociación Americana de
Juristas
Confederation of Lawyers
of Asia and the Pacific (COLAP)
L’association du Barreau
de Bruxelles
AVOCATS.BE – l’Ordre des
associations des barreaus germanophones et francophones de Belgique
Syndicat des Avocats
Pour la Démocratie
OBFG Association de l’Ordre
des avocats germanophones et francophones de Belgique
In 2013, ten
years ago, a mass trial started against 22 lawyers, all of them members of the
lawyers organisation Progressive Lawyers’ Association (ÇHD, Turkey) and of the
Peoples Law Office (HHB). Since then up to three hearings have taken place each
year – first before the “Special Assize Court” (the Heavy Penal Court), then,
in 2014, after a change in penal procedural law of Turkey, before the ordinary
Heavy Penal Court.
All lawyers in question were convicted or face charges
for their professional activities. In violation of the UN Basic Principles on
the Role of Lawyers, they are, firstly, identified with their clients’ causes,
and, secondly, limited in their freedom of expression, which includes the right
to take part in public discussions about human rights.
Several of the defendants, among them the ÇHD
president Selçuk KOZAGAÇLI, have already been subject to years of pretrial detention.
One of the defendants in this trial, Ebru Timtik, died during her hunger strike
seeking fair trials in the courts of Turkey.
Lawyers from Europe and other continents have observed
all hearings. This week the International Observers include more than 60 lawyers
from 8 European countries and the USA: Austria, Belgium, France,
Germany, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain/Catalonia, and the US. The
lawyers represent various local Bar Associations, European and International
Bar confederations, and other lawyers’ organisations.
Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights require Turkey to provide all defendants with a fair and public trial by
a competent, independent, and impartial court.
Previously, in
2021, on the occasion of the International Fair Trial Day, which focused on
Turkey that year, the jury came to the conclusion that these international standards
for a fair trial are frequently violated in Turkey.
This week, the
International Observers are monitoring the ÇHD trial very closely to determine
whether the court will adhere to international fair trial standards and whether
prior violations of these principles in the course of this trial will be remedied
by the court.
The trials against the lawyers of ÇHD are part of a
larger pattern of attacking lawyers in Turkey and identifying them with their
clients. Lawyers are unjustly criminalized and prosecuted for fulfilling their
professional duties. This is intolerable and in clear violation of
international law. Further, the International Observers have concluded that
international fair trial standards have not been respected in the hearings they
have previously observed.
Therefore we demand the immediate release of all
lawyers incarcerated based on their work on political cases. It is not a crime
to be a lawyer. We will continue to insist on ending the criminalization of
merely exercising the profession of lawyers and on upholding the fundamental
principles of the rule of law, including the right to a fair trial for all
people in Turkey and elsewhere throughout the world.
Signatories:
European Association
of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights, ELDH
La Conférence des
bâtonniers
L’association Défense
Sans frontière – Avocats Solidaires (Defense Without Borders – Solidarity
Lawyers, France (DSF-AS)
Giuristi Democratici
– National Association of Democratic Jurists, Italy
UIA-IROL (the Institute
for the Rule of Law of the International Association of Lawyers)
Lawyers for Lawyers,
the Netherlands
The German Federal
Bar
Union of Italian
Penal Chambers (UCPI)
Republikanischer
Anwältinnen – und Anwälteverein e.V. (RAV)
The International
Observatory for Lawyers in Danger (OIAD)
The Center of Research and
Elaboration on Democracy/ Legal International Intervention Group
The Catalan
Association for the Defense of Human Rights
The Barcelona Bar
Association’s Defence Commission
The New York City Bar
Association
The Foundation of the
Day of the Endangered Lawyer
The Dutch League for
Human Rights
Avocats Européens
Démocrates / European Democratic Lawyer
The Association for
the Support of Fundamental Rights Athens, Greece
Marseille Bar
Association
Fair Trial Watch
Berlin Bar
Association
Bordeaux Bar
Association
Conférence Régionale
des Bâtonniers de l Ouest
Epinal Bar
Association
The International
Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL)
National Union of
People’s Lawyers, the Philippines (NULP)
Asociación Americana
de Juristas
Confederation of
Lawyers of Asia and the Pacific (COLAP)
Brussels Bar
Associaton
AVOCATS.BE – Order of
French- and German-speaking bar associations of Belgium
Syndicat des Avocats
Pour la Démocratie
OBFG German and
French speaking Bar Association of Belgium
Press release issued by the legal Fact Finding Mission of AED-EDL, taking place in Istanbul from the 15th September to the 20th September, to monitor and observe current mass trials against lawyers in Turkey.
Lawyers from AED–EDL have
participated in the Fact Finding Mission in Istanbul
from the 15th to the 20th September 2021 together with other represented
international organizations, Bar Associations and the CCBE. The aim of the
mission has been to monitor and observe mass trials against lawyers in Turkey. The
Fact Finding Mission participants observed two hearings of the trial against Selçuk
Kozağaçlı’s, Barkın Timtik’s and Oya Aslan, they have visited lawyers detained
in Edirne, Kandıra and Silivri maximum security prisons, and have held meetings
with the president of the Istanbul Bar Association, members of the defense and
other lawyers in Turkey.
Currently, several trials against members of the lawyers’
organization Çağdaş Hukukçular Derneği (ÇHD), member of AED – EDL, are taking
place, in which 28 criminal defense lawyers are accused of being members of a
terrorist group, in violation of the UN
Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers. Some of the defendants have
already been convicted and sentenced to heavy prison terms, others are still in
pretrial detention.
AED criticizes
the fact that our colleagues are convicted or face charges stemming from the
performance of their professional activities. Lawyers cannot be identified with
their clients’ causes.
AED condemns the fact that the charges used by the prosecution and
the court stem from the extra-professional and private life of lawyers. Being a
member of a lawyers’ association or a law firm composed by lawyers assuring the
defense of political prisoners, social movements, participating in protests or
funerals of clients and colleagues, addressing an international support (…) are
used as presumed evidence of the participation in terrorist activities by the
prosecution.
AED reaffirms that those non-criminal activities are protected by
the rights of freedom of expression and association of lawyers.
The members of the AED-EDL mission have clearly witnessed the fact
that the defense did not have access to the original documents used by the
prosecutor as evidence and was denied the right to interrogate the secret
witnesses. The use of this evidence is void as it constitutes a clear violation
of the equality of arms, adversarial proceedings and the principle of
contradiction, which are guaranteed by article
6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The refusal of the prosecution to produce the original documents is
to be assimilated to a lack of proof and is enough for the immediate release of
all lawyers and the waiver of charges.
AED considers that the Turkish authorities are using the judicial power instrumentally to attack the lawyers and restrain their professional freedom.
Istanbul, 20th of September 2021
Communiqué de presse de la mission d’observations de l’AED-EDL, qui a eu lieu à Istanbul du 15 au 20 septembre, afin d’observer les procès de masse en cours contre les avocats en Turquie.
Des avocats de l’AED-EDL
ont participé à la mission d’enquête à Istanbul du 15 au 20 septembre 2021 avec
des organisations internationales représentatives de la profession d’avocat,
des barreaux et le CCBE. L’objectif de la mission était de suivre et d’observer
les procès de masse contre des avocats en Turquie. Les participants à la
mission d’observation ont assisté à deux audiences du procès contre Selçuk
Kozağaçlı, Barkın Timtik et Oya Aslan. Ils ont rendu visite à des avocats
détenus dans les prisons de haute sécurité d’Edirne, Kandıra et Silivri, et ont
rencontré le président du Barreau d’Istanbul, des avocats de la défense ainsi
que d’autres avocats turcs.
Actuellement, plusieurs procès contre des membres
de l’organisation d’avocats Çağdaş Hukukçular Derneği (ÇHD), membre de l’AED –
EDL ont lieu avec 28 avocats de la défense accusés d’être membres d’un groupe
terroriste, en violation des Principes de
base des Nations unies relatifs au rôle des avocats. Certains des accusés
ont déjà été reconnus coupables et condamnés à de lourdes peines de prison,
d’autres sont toujours en détention provisoire.
L’AED dénonce le fait que nos confrères soient
condamnés ou fassent l’objet de poursuites en raison de leur exercice
professionnel. Les avocats ne peuvent pas être assimilés à leurs clients et aux
causes qu’ils défendent.
L’AED condamne le fait que le ministère public et
le tribunal utilisent la vie extra-professionnelle et privée des avocats comme
des éléments à charges. Le fait d’être membre d’une association d’avocats ou
d’un cabinet composé d’avocats assurant la défense de prisonniers politiques et
des mouvements sociaux, de participer à des manifestations ou d’assister aux funérailles
de clients et de confrères, de signer un appel à un soutien international… ne
peuvent être utilisés comme des éléments de preuve d’une participation présumée
à des activités terroristes.
L’AED réaffirme le fait que ces activités dépourvues
de tout caractère délictuel et criminel sont protégées par le droit à la
liberté d’expression et d’association des avocats.
Les membres de la mission AED-EDL ont été témoins
du fait que la défense n’a pas eu accès aux documents originaux de la procédure
dont les copies sont la base des poursuites par le procureur et ont pu
constater l’impossibilité de la défense d’interroger les témoins anonymes.
L’utilisation de ces preuves entache de nullité la procédure car elle constitue
une violation manifeste de l’égalité des armes, du principe du contradictoire
et des droits de la défense garantis par l’article
6 de la Convention européenne de sauvegarde des droits de l’homme et des libertés
fondamentales.
Le refus par les autorités de poursuite de
produire les documents originaux doit être assimilé à une absence de preuve et doit
conduire à la libération immédiate de tous les avocats ainsi qu’à l’abandon des
charges à l’encontre de nos confrères.
L’AED considère que les autorités turques instrumentalisent
le pouvoir judiciaire pour s’attaquer à la profession d’avocat et restreindre la
liberté professionnelle des avocats.
