Twelve international legal and human rights organizations have submitted a joint legal opinion known as an amicus brief to an İstanbul court, warning that ongoing criminal and civil proceedings against the leadership of the İstanbul Bar Association represent a “direct assault” on the independence of the legal profession, Turkish Minute reported.
The brief comes ahead of the second hearing, which begins on September 9 and is scheduled to last two days at the İstanbul 26th High Criminal Court. In addition to the civil proceedings, İstanbul Bar President İbrahim Kaboğlu and 10 board members face criminal charges, including “spreading terrorist propaganda” and “publicly disseminating misleading information.” Prosecutors are seeking up to 12 years in prison and a ban from engaging in politics. The bar’s executive board was dismissed by a court in March.
The case stems from the bar’s December statement demanding an independent investigation into the death of two Kurdish journalists in Syria.
The organizations argue in their joint submission that these proceedings violate Turkey’s obligations under international human rights law as the bar’s statement falls squarely within its professional mandate and legal duty to defend human rights and the rule of law. They ask the court to review the case, arguing that the proceedings against the bar’s leadership violate standards on the independence of lawyers and freedom of expression, appear to pursue an ulterior political purpose and risk setting a dangerous precedent for rights-based advocacy.
Dinushika Dissanayake, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for Europe, said “criminal law is being misused” to target lawyers, their professional body and human rights defenders for simply carrying out their work.
“Türkiye’s overly broad anti-terrorism laws are open to abuse. Prosecutions such as these send a chilling message that demanding the authorities abide by their human rights obligations comes at a heavy cost and that lawyers’, their representatives’ and everyone’s right to freedom of expression can be arbitrarily curtailed,” she added.
Baroness Helena Kennedy, director of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, said the bar’s statement was well within its statutory duties. To prosecute the leadership over it, she warned, is both “legally indefensible and politically alarming.”
Thierry Wickers, president of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) stated, “These actions are not just an attack on the Istanbul Bar Association, they are an attack on the very idea of an independent legal profession, one of the main pillars of a democratic society and a fundamental guarantee for ensuring the rule of law and preventing abuse of state power.”
The organizations that submitted the brief include Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project, Amnesty International, CCBE, European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights, German Federal Bar, Human Rights Watch, International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, International Commission of Jurists, International Observatory for Lawyers in Danger, Law Society of England and Wales, Lawyers for Lawyers and PEN Norway.
Journalists Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin were killed in a drone strike near Tishrin Dam, east of Aleppo, on December 19 while covering clashes between Turkish-backed forces and US-supported Kurdish fighters, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The group reported that a Turkish drone was responsible for the attack.
Turkish authorities, however, claim that Daştan and Bilgin were not journalists. The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said both men were “members of a terrorist organization” engaged in armed conflict with security forces and were under investigation for the allegation at the time of their death. The prosecution claims the İstanbul Bar Association’s statement misrepresented the facts and sought to undermine national security.
