A Turkish prison board has denied conditional release to prominent human rights lawyer Selçuk Kozağaçlı, citing a “lack of good conduct” and claiming that he is not ready to reintegrate into society, a decision that has renewed concerns over the politicization of release processes in Turkey.
According to the Etkin News Agency (ETHA), Marmara Prison’s Administration and Observation Board based its December 30 decision on disciplinary measures imposed on Kozağaçlı, including a reprimand for refusing to obtain a prison identity card and a one-month ban from activities following a three-day hunger strike protesting high-security “pit-type” prisons.
The board scheduled Kozağaçlı’s next conditional release review for June 30.
Kozağaçlı was briefly released on April 16, 2025, but was taken back into custody less than 24 hours later after prosectors objected, citing his prison “development score” falling below the required threshold for conditional release.
Under the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) inmates convicted on terrorism-related charges are eligible for conditional release after serving three-fourths of their sentence.
Kozağaçlı, the honorary president of the Progressive Lawyers’ Association (ÇHD), was arrested in November 2017 on terrorism charges, later receiving a 10-year sentence for alleged membership in the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C), a group designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey. His conviction was upheld by Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals in April 2024.
Kozağaçlı has represented numerous politically sensitive clients, including families of the victims of a mine disaster in 2014 that had claimed the lives of 301 miners; dismissed civil servants such as teachers Nuriye Gülmen and Semih Özakça, who went on a hunger strike protesting their post-coup purge; and many other persecuted people.
Lawyers and bar associations in Turkey have increasingly faced investigation and prosecution for their work, raising concerns over the erosion of legal independence. The government has been accused of criminalizing legal defense to intimidate lawyers representing clients associated with dissident groups.
In the latest global Rule of Law Index released in October 2025 by the World Justice Project, Turkey was ranked 118th out of 143 countries, falling one place from the previous year.
