Developments in the trial against human rights lawyer Levent Pişkin

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URGENT APPEAL – THE OBSERVATORY

New information

TUR 007 / 1116 / OBS097.3

Judicial harassment

Turkey
May 19, 2017

The Observatory for the Protection of HumanRights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation AgainstTorture (OMCT), has received new information and requests your urgentintervention in the following situation in Turkey.

Newinformation:

TheObservatory has been informed by its trial observers about yesterday'sdevelopments in the trial against Mr. Levent Pişkin, a human rights lawyer belonging to theAssociation of Lawyers for Freedom (OzgurlukcuHukukcular Dernegi – OHD),a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual and Intersexed (LGBTI) rights activist,and a member of the Justice Commission of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP)[1].

According to the information received, during theMay-18 hearing which was monitored by an Observatory trial observation mission,the Heavy Penal Court in Bursa heard the case against Mr. Levent Pişkin oncharges of “undermining the image of Turkey” and “support to a terrorist group”(Article 7 of the Anti-Terror Law – ATL and Article 314 of the Turkish PenalCode). The defendant is criminalised for fulfilling his duties as an attorney,in particular for being part of the lawyers team of HDP co-chair Mr. SelahattinDemirtaş (see background information).

During the May-18hearing, the accusation upheld the argument of the investigators, who hadconsidered during the pre-trial stage that a meeting between Mr. Demirtaş'lawyers, where they had decided to share the costs of their dinner, wasamounting to “financial support to terrorism”.

The accusation went onalleging that interviews given by Mr. Pişkin to international media, notably DerSpiegel, had contributed to “undermining the image of Turkey”.

In turn, Mr. LeventPişkin's lawyers demonstrated that the investigations against the defendantviolated the principles of the due process and rule of law, in particular interms of fairness and impartiality, relying on provisions of the EuropeanConvention of Human Rights (ECHR) and on relevant case-law from the EuropeanCourt of Human Rights (ECtHR). Several activists were present in the courtroomin a sign of support to Mr. Pişkin.

Thenext hearing was set for November 30, 2017. Mr. Pişkin remains free but underjudicial supervision.

TheObservatory deplores the continuing judicial harassment against Mr. LeventPişkin, which seems to merely aim at sanctioning his human rights activities asan attorney. The Observatory urges the Turkish authorities to drop all thecharges against Mr. Levent Pişkin and to put an end to any kindof harassment against him.

Background information:

On November 14, 2016, at5:30 a.m. the police raided in Mr. Levent Pişkin’s apartment, confiscated someof his belongings, including his computer and phone, and arrested him.[2]The Public Prosecution Office ordered his placement in custody and he wastransferred to Bursa Detention Centre.

The arrest would berelated to his visit to his client, Member of Parliament, Mr. Selahattin Demirtaş,HDP co-Chair, detained since November 4, 2016. Some media accused him ofconveying Mr. Selahattin Demirtaş’smessage to a German Magazine which could be used as propaganda.

At the day of his arrest,he was supposed to defend 46 lawyers, facingjudicial harassment since 2011 for exercising their profession.

In April 2017, almost six months after hisarrest, Mr. Levent Pişkin was charged for fulfilling his duties as an attorney. The Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor Gökhan Şenindeed accused Mr. Pişkin of “using his attorney ID to visit his clientSelahattin Demirtaş, who is currently jailed in Edirne Penitentiary, andaccepting [his fellow attorney Cahit] Kırkazak’s proposal to deliver a messagefrom Mr. Demirtaş to the German magazine Der Spiegel, in order to bringthe arrest of Mr. Demirtaş to the international agenda and into lobbyingefforts on the international stage”.

Specifically, the prosecution claimed that manystories published in Der Spiegel “contain insults to the Turkishstate and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, spread unfounded news that insults,teases and belittles the country, and pursues an editorial policy that stokespublic opinion against the country in order to discredit the nation on theinternational stage”.

The indictment further referred to Mr. LeventPişkin’s phone call with fellow attorney Cahit Kırkazak, who was taken intocustody in the same investigation as him, as a “phone communication withinthe organisational hierarchy”, and Mr. Pişkin’s membership in a WhatsApp groupnamed “HDPIstanbul” was also included in his list of crimes.

Actionsrequested:

Pleasewrite to the authorities in Turkey, urging them to:

i.Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Levent Pişkin as well as of all human rightsdefenders in Turkey;

ii. Put an end to all forms of harassment, including atjudicial level, against Mr. Levent Pişkin, as well as other human rights defenders in Turkey, and in particular lawyers, since it only seems to aimat sanctioning their legitimate human rights work;

iii.Comply with all the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on HumanRights Defenders, in particular with Articles 1, 6(a), 9, 11 and 12.2;

iv.Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedomsin accordance with international human rights standards and internationalinstruments ratified by Turkey.

Addresses:

· President of Turkey,Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Cumhurbaşkanlığı Külliyesi 06560 Beştepe-Ankara, Tel:(+90 312) 525 55 55, Fax: (+90 312) 525 58 31, E-mail: contact@tccb.gov.tr

· Prime Minister of Turkey AhmetDavutoglu tel: (0312) 422 10 00 ; Fax: +90 (312)403 62 82

· Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, No: 8 Balgat / Ankara- Turkey 06100; Tel : +90 (312) 292 10 00

· Minister of Justice, Mr. Bekir Bozdağ, 06659 Kizilay, Ankara; Tel: +90(312) 417 77 70; Fax: +90 (0312) 419 33 70; E-mail: info@adalet.gov.tr

· Ministerof Interior, Mr. Efkan Ala; tel: +90 (312)422 40 00;Fax: +90 (312) 425 61 30; Email: ozelkalem@icisleri.gov.tr

· Ambassador Izzet SelimYenel, Diplomatic Mission of Turkey to the European Union in Brussels, Avenuedes Arts 36-38, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium; Fax: + 32 2 511 04 50

· Ambassador Mehmet Ferden Çarikçi,Permanent Mission of Turkey to the United Nations in Geneva, Chemin duPetit-Saconnex 28B 1211 Geneva 19, Tel: +41 22 918 50 80; Fax: +41 22 734 0859; Email: mission.turkey@ties.itu.int

Pleasealso write to the diplomatic mission or embassy of Turkey in your respectivecountry.

***

Paris-Geneva,May 19, 2017

Kindlyinform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in yourreply.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (theObservatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and OMCT. The objective of thispartnership is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations of repressionagainst human rights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members ofProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanismimplemented by international civil society.

Tocontact the Observatory, call the emergency line:

· E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80

· Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 80949 29

[1] HDP is the Peoples’ DemocraticParty which is a left wing political party in favour of minorities.

[2] For more information, see: theObservatory’s Urgent Appeal TUR 007 / 1116 / OBS 097 publishedon November 15, 2016.