A Turkish lawyer was briefly detained Wednesday on accusations of “slander of a public official” after he insisted on having his client’s torture allegations recorded in a police report in İzmir, the Mezopotamya News Agency reported.
Lawyer Ömür Can Aydın was summoned to a police station in connection with his client’s interrogation. After he insisted that his client’s torture allegations be included in the official record, a prosecutor ordered his detention. He was later taken to the courthouse, where he gave his testimony before being released.
The İzmir Bar Association condemned the detention and expressed support for Aydın in a statement. The bar said its representatives attempted to speak with the prosecutor overseeing the case but that he refused to engage and abruptly ended the call.
The bar association said the incident took place the same day Justice Minister Akın Gürlek sent a message to lawyers’ personal mobile phones saying, “We are one family,” following backlash from bar associations over his remarks about lawyers.
The incident comes amid growing concern among lawyers and bar associations in Turkey, who have increasingly faced investigations and prosecutions linked to their activities. Critics say such measures amount to criminalization of legal defense and are aimed at intimidating 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.
