Hundreds of lawyers are now believed to be in pre-trial detention or serving prison terms in Turkey’s overcrowded jails. They are regularly targeted through abusive criminal investigations and unfair prosecutions, accused of the alleged crimes of their clients.
Veteran human rights lawyer, Eren Keskin, has been on the receiving end of more than 100 criminal prosecutions for her role as a ‘symbolic editor’ of the now shuttered Özgür Gündem newspaper. If the sentences pending against her are upheld on appeal, she would be sent to prison and unable to practice law again.
In September, almost 50 lawyers were arrested in dawn raids across Turkey. They are facing charges because the clients they had been representing are accused of being part of the Gülen movement.
The latest blow came in November, when dozens of lawyers were among more than 100 people issued with detention warrants as part of what Turkish authorities called “terrorism-related investigations” in Diyarbakır.
Commenting on the increasing number of arrests, the Istanbul Bar Association said: “A lawyer cannot be identified with their client. Intimidation which hopes to restrict the lawyers’ duty will impact the public as much as lawyers and gradually destroy confidence in justice.” The targeting of defence lawyers with criminal charges for executing their duties contravenes the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers and critically undermines the right to a fair trial.
Two years ago, Turkey was the focus of the global ‘Day of the Endangered Lawyer’. Dozens of lawyers protested behind a banner that read ‘If lawyers lose their voice, citizens lose their breath.’ But little has improved in Turkey since then. Instead, the targeting and harassment of lawyers through the misuse of the justice system has become more acute.
Through abusive investigations, arbitrary detentions and unfounded prosecutions under vaguely defined anti-terrorism laws, Turkey is eroding the basic tenets of the rule of law. Detaining lawyers has become routine practice, deepening the climate of fear and repression across the country.
In such a repressive climate the people who step up in defense of human rights violations themselves become targets. The job of defense and human rights lawyers is increasingly vital in Turkey, but ever more dangerous.
Amnesty International Sacramento 
