In Turkey on 16 July, the trial against 46 lawyers, three employees of law firms and a journalist who are suspected of having ties with the Union of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK) started. The Turkish authorities regard the KCK as the local branch of the banned Kurdish labour party PKK. The majority of the suspected lawyers is (or was) involved in the defence of Abdullah Öcalan. According to the office of the prosecutor, the suspects have communicated instructions from Öcalan to his supporters. The lawyers are accused of “working for, or belonging to, a terrorist organisation.” It seems that those accusations are merely based on legitimate professional activities of the lawyers involved.
L4L was, together with many other international organisations and many Bar Associations, present to observe the first hearing in the trial. After the hearing, the organisations drafted a final declaration on their initial observations. L4L will further elaborate upon its findings in a report on the trial observation mission.
Before the start of the ‘Lawyers trial’, L4L and 15 other human rights organisations called upon the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Lawyers and Judges to take action in a joint letter. At the moment the trial started, 36 lawyers were still detained on remand, while at this moment still 27 are.
