Jurists for Jurists’ letter to Turkish MoJ: Judge Ahmet Kaya treated inhumanely in prison

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Jurists for Jurists’ letter to Turkish MoJ: Judge Ahmet Kaya treated inhumanely in prison

lnternationaler Rechtshilfefonds: Jurists for Jurists e.V. c/o Ingrid Heinlein

Gneisenaustr. 56, 40477 Düsseldorf, 28.05.2021

Republic of Turkey
Minister of Justice
06659 Kizilay/Ankara info@adalet.gov.tr

Inhuman treatment of  judge Ahmet Kaya in Sincan Prison

Honorable minister of Justice, Mr. Abdulamit Gül,

we are a German association of judges, prosecutors and lawyers providing legal assistance to our colleages in other countries, promoting international understanding of justice and respect for the democratic rule of law, human rights and judicial independence.

We approach you because we are in a deep sorrow about the situation of Judge Ahmet Kaya, former member of the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors, who has already been in pre-trial detention since the coup attempt in  2016, that means for almost five years. In April 2021 Judge Kaya was transferred to the high-security area of  Sincan Prison where he is subject to inhuman conditions of detention that endanger his health and cannot be justified by anything. Since his transfer, he has been Isolated from other prisoners. For example, he is not allowed to take part in communal outdoor meetings, although quarantine measures have been ended.

What is even worse: He is placed in a cell where he cannot sleep and does not get any rest, because next to his cell is a canteen for the prison staff. From there he is exposed to noise during the day and all night from the fans, the kitchen appliances and the conversations of the prison staff. Under these circumstances he is at risk of serious health damage. Judge Kaya already suffers from diabetes and asthma; a heart disease could be added.

All this is completely unacceptable. Reasons for the transfer and change of his detention conditions were not given to him. He has written several times to the prison administration asking for explanation, but has not received an answer at any time.

As you know Article 3 ECHR prohibits torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The European Court of Human Righsts hat repeatedly ruled that the authorities are under an obligation to protect the health of persons deprived of liberty. Solitary confinement measures should be ordered only exceptionally. The authorities have to carrry out an assessment of the situation that takes into account the prisoner’s circumstances, situation and bevaviour and must provide substantive reasons in their support (ECtHR Onoufriou v. Cyprus judgement). According to paragraph 18.1.of the European Prison Rules the accomodation provided for prisoners, and in particular all sleeping accomodation, shall respect human dignity and meet the requirements of health and hygiene.

Honorable minister of justice, we ask you urgently to ensure that these basic human rights are respected with regard to Judge Ahmet Kaya. Please intervene without hesitation! We would like to express our hope that you will stop his isolation from other prisone rs, provide his human accomodation and inform him without delay of the reasons for his transfer to the high-security area.

Your’s sincerely

lnternationaler Rechtshilfefonds: Jurists for Jurists e.V.
Ingrid  Heinlein

Source: https://twitter.com/AEAJ2000

Judge Mehmet Dölen, who was dismissed and kept in prison for 26 months, passed away of covid-19 on 1st June 2021

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Judge Mehmet Dölen, who was dismissed and kept in prison for 26 months, passed away of covid-19 on 1st June 2021

Judge Mehmet Dölen, who was dismissed and kept in prison for 26 months, passed away of covid-19 on 1st June 2021.

Judge Dölen was dismissed on political charges on the pretext of the July 15 coup attempt and deprived of his freedom for 26 months. He was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in prison and released until the end of appeal process.

When he was examined upon his illness after his release, he learned that he had covid-19.

He died of covid-19 on 1st June 2021.

What evidences did prosecutor loyal to Erdogan Regime collect as part of the investigation against the detained judges and prosecutors in Turkey?

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What evidences did prosecutor loyal to Erdogan Regime collect as part of the investigation against the detained judges and prosecutors in Turkey?

A new document reveals that Ankara public prosecutor considered the non-criminal acts as the evidence for terrorism and coup against arrested judges and prosecutors:

Here is the translation of the document:

REPUBLIC OF TURKEY

ANKARA PUBLIC PROSECUTION OFFICE

03/11/2016

Number: 2016/104109 (Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor)

TO ANKARA PROVINCIAL POLICE DEPARTMENT (Section of Fight Against Drugs)

Regarding the Turkish ID numbers sent in the CD attached to our article, their last duty locations and the suspects whose duties are written, the TCK’s (Turkish Penal Code) 314 / 1-2. an investigation has been initiated with the allegation of “FETÖ / PDY Armed Terrorist Organization membership”; by opening separate files for the suspects in order to find the material truth and to prove the actions.

1- Examination of HTS records:

a) Detection of calls and mobile phone signals on 15-16 July 2O16,

b) Identifying frequently interviewed people from phone records,

c) What are the locations where the mobile phones of suspects who are considered to be acting together give signals together, (whether it is on certain days of the week or not)

d) Whether he has any contact with suspects who were previously committed for the same crime,

e) Whether he has received SMS from the institutions and organizations affiliated with FETÖ / PDY,

f) Whether he has any contact with the individuals at the top level of the organization (especially whether he has contact with the suspects included in the FETÖ / PDY roof indictment),

2- Making determinations about the ByLock program:

a) Which group the suspect is in the ByLock lists,

b) The date and until when the suspect used the mentioned program,

c) Who uses the phone number seen in the ByLock list,

d) Whether messaging is done via ByLock, and if so, what is their content,

3- Examination of bank account transactions:

a) Whether there is a large amount of money entering the accounts of this bank, especially during the periods when support calls are made to Bank Asya,

b) Whether this amount is deposited to Bank Asya simultaneously by withdrawing a loan from another bank,

c) Whether the movable or immovable asset on the suspect is sold and the equivalent price has been deposited in the said bank.

d) Whether there were any unusual outflows from accounts after the July 15 coup attempt,

4- Investigation of foreign entry-exit records:

a) Whether the suspect has entered and exited abroad for a very short time,

b) To which countries he has traveled and whether there is anyone with whom he has met abroad in the HTS records,

c) What are the movements in HTS records before and after going abroad?

d) Whether he acted with other suspects or other persons to be identified.

5- Examination of Mobese, lodging security camera records:

Determining whether the suspect is moving together on the night of July 15-16, 2016 by examining the camera records of the residence or the Mobese camera records,

6- Determination of the subscriptions to “the magazine, journal etc. decided to be closed with the Decree Laws”,

7- Determination of the distribution of votes in the lodging buildings regarding the 2014 elections,

8- Analysis of answers from DigiTurk, D-Smart and Tivibu companies,

9- Detection of shares in social media accounts:

a) In response to the operations carried out in the previous periods, whether he made posts by following the calls of the armed terrorist organization FETÖ / PDY to twit on social media,

b) Whether there are any posts that support the organization’s statements that criticize the operations carried out against the members of the said organization after 17-25 December 2013,

c) Whether there were posts showing that he participated in the protests held in front of the courthouses, police directorates and trustee-appointed companies during the said period

10- Detection of denunciations, criminal complaints or investigations made about the suspect in the places of work:

Whether there are denunciation and investigation documents regarding the suspects,

11- Determination of hotel accommodation records:

a) Whether meetings are organized by the organization in hotels and facilities throughout the country,

b) In these meetings, whether the other persons with whom the suspect stayed together or entered / exited the hotel on the same or recent dates have FETÖ / PDY contacts,

12- Examination of assets movements:

Whether the movable and immovable assets on the suspect or his/her first-degree relatives are sold or given a power of attorney to be sold after the July 15 coup attempt,

13- Examination of the PTS (vehicle license plate recognition system) records of the vehicles belonging to the suspects:

Especially on 15 July 2016, when the coup attempt took place, whether there was a suspicious movement of their vehicles before and after, and whether there was a movement that would make us think that they were gathered in a certain place,

14- Investigation of whether they are members of legal associations affiliated with FETÖ / PDY: Determining whether you are a member of associations, foundations, etc., which have operated under the guise of professional organization or otherwise and decided to be closed with the decree law,

15- Requesting the MASAK (Financial Crimes Investigation Board) report:

Ensuring that the financial account movements of suspects are reported by contacting MASAK (Financial Crimes Investigation Board),

16- Investigating the fate of the instructions written by our Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor to other units of the law enforcement authority, collecting in your Branch Office all information and documents regarding the transactions made in relation to them and adding them to your report,

17- Immediate request for the decision of the public prosecutor or judge needed during the investigations,

18- Sending without waiting of the completed documents regarding the suspects who do not have to be evaluated together,

19- Evaluating the work to be done in terms of the suspects separately, connecting the completed documents to a separate report for each suspect,

It is requested that the report to be prepared regarding its issues be sent to our Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor as soon as possible.

Ahmet AKCA 40063

Public Prosecutor

ANNEX:

Name, surname of the suspects, with their places of duty and duties, CD with Turkish ID numbers

Source:

https://twitter.com/mustafa_dogan00

Public prosecutors loyal to Erdogan Regime probed the tallies of ballot boxes where arrested judges casted their votes in the previous general and local elections

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Public prosecutors loyal to Erdogan Regime probed the tallies of ballot boxes where arrested judges casted their votes in the previous general and local elections

A new document reveals that a month after ordering the arrest of 2475 judges and prosecutor, Ankara deputy chief prosecutors probed the tallies of ballot boxes where arrested judges and prosecutors casted their votes in the previous general and local elections:

Translation of the document as follows:

REPUBLIC OF TURKEY

ANKARA OFFICE OF CHIEF PUBLIC PROSECUTOR

INVESTIGATION NUMBER: 2016/115506-16.08.2016

TO THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF SUPREME COMMITTEE OF ELECTIONS

On the basis of the investigation conducted regarding the commitment of the crimes of attempting to overthrow the constitutional order by using force and violence on 15.07.2016 by the FETÖ / PDY Terrorist Organization;

Sending the documents showing the distribution of votes from the ballot boxes where the members of the judiciary in the lists sent on CD in the attachment, those who live in the public housing cast their votes in the general and local elections, to our Office of Chief Public Prosecutor immediately;

Are requested.

Ali KUŞÇUOĞLU

Deputy chief public prosecutor

Hakan PEKTAŞ

Deputy chief public prosecutor           

Source:

www.twitter.com/ArrestedLawyers

Every 23rd May, MEDEL honours Giovanni Falcone, assassinated by the mafia in 1992, marking this day as  Alert Day for the Independence of Justice. This year, MEDEL honours the memory of the brave magistrates (and families) from Turkey who gave their lives after unfairly imprisoned

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Every 23rd May, MEDEL honours Giovanni Falcone, assassinated by the mafia in 1992, marking this day as  Alert Day for the Independence of Justice. This year, MEDEL honours the memory of the brave magistrates (and families) from Turkey who gave their lives after unfairly imprisoned

23RD OF MAY – ALERT DAY FOR THE INDEPENDENCE OF JUSTICE

Every 23rd of May, MEDEL honours the memory of Giovanni Falcone, the Italian judge assassinated by the mafia on this day, in 1992, having declared this date as the Alert Day for the Independence of Justice.

The independence of the Judiciary is not an empty concept – it is the cornerstone of any free and democratic society. Without free judiciary there can be no respect for Human Rights or Fundamental Freedoms.

During this past year we have continued to witness a breakdown of the Rule of Law in many countries.

In Hungary and Poland, the attacks against brave and independent judges and prosecutors have increased in number and intensity, while the local governments show total disrespect for the decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union or the European Court of Human Rights.

In Turkey, Murat Arslan, the President of YARSAV (MEDEL‘s member association) remains in prison, serving a 10 years conviction after a judgement that has not met any criteria of a due process of law.

Just as we remember the memory of Giovanni Falcone, that paid the supreme price for defending the fundamental value of an independent Judiciary, in this day MEDEL wants to remember the judges and prosecutors from Turkey who also gave their lives after being unfairly imprisoned and whose only fault was standing courageously in the frontline of the defence of the Independence of the Judiciary and the Rule of Law:

Teoman Gökçe (June 2018 I found dead in his prison cell);

Mustafa Erdoğan (August 2017 I 4 days after his release);

Mehmet Tosun (died in hospital after release);

Seyfettin Yiğit (September 2016 I found dead in his prison cell);

Alparslan Güngör (April 2021 I after 3 years in jail).

To this list, we must add the names of all the spouses, children and other relatives of judges and prosecutors that died after persecution or when trying to escape in extreme conditions (https://www.freejudges.eu/report/report-judges-and-prosecutors-losing-their-lives-due-to-the-persecution-of-erdogans-government-under-coup-pretext).

By remembering their names, MEDEL honours their memory and wants to assure that, just as Giovanni Falcone, their example will live on.

MEDEL once again stresses what it said in this same day in 2020: these are dark times for the judiciary all over the world, and especially in Europe. It is precisely in moments like these that we need to raise our voices and stand up for the fundamental values on which Europe must be built: respect for fundamental rights and freedoms; separation of powers and independence of the Judiciary.

This is what we owe to the memory of Giovanni Falcone and all those who sacrificed for Justice. May 23rd 2021

Source: https://twitter.com/MedelEurope/status/1396363898505281538?s=19

Being purged from his job as a judge after the 15 July coup attempt, Eyüp Sarı is doing farming

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Being purged from his job as a judge after the 15 July coup attempt, Eyüp Sarı is doing farming

Being purged from his job as a judge after the 15 July coup attempt, Eyüp Sarı is doing farming.

He had been kept in prison for 24 months before he was sentenced to 6 years 8 months. If the Court of Cassation upholds the verdict, he will go to jail again for 28 months.

Judge Alparslan Güngör, who was dismissed and kept in prison for 3 years, passed away of lung cancer on 16th April 2021

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Judge Alparslan Güngör, who was dismissed and kept in prison for 3 years, passed away of lung cancer on 16th April 2021

Judge Güngör was dismissed on political charges on the pretext of the July 15 coup attempt and deprived of his freedom for 3 years.

When he was examined upon his illness after his release, he learned that he had stage 4 lung cancer.

His wife, who was a judge like him, was also dismissed and sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in prison. This case is still on appeal.

Güngör, he was the father of 2 children, aged 1 and 5.

https://x.com/drgokhangunes/status/1914267872387387551

 

Dismissed judge Kasım Davas was rearrested and humiliated by Police on 20 March 2021

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Dismissed judge Kasım Davas was rearrested and humiliated by Police on 20 March 2021

Dismissed judge Kasım Davas, former member of Council of State (Supreme Administrative Court), was sentenced to 8 years 9 months in prison over the pretext of terrorism charges on 17 June 2019. He was conditionally released pending trial until the end of appeal process.

In March 2021 the unlawful verdict was baselessly upheld by Court of Cassation (Supreme Appeal Court) and former judge Kasım Davas has been rearrested for execution of the 8 years 9 months prison sentence. Police humiliated him by pushing his head down and handcuffing his hands.

Although Davas was waiting at his home, false reports were made by the media controlled by Erdoğan that he had escaped and was hiding.

Sources:
– https://www.freejudges.eu
– https://twitter.com/WomanJudgeTR
– https://www.aa.com.tr

In remembrance of Turkey’s killed judges and lawyers

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In remembrance of Turkey’s killed judges and lawyers
Former judge Yavuz Aydın wrote an article for Ahval English on the turkish judges and lawyers who have either passed away or whose life in many ways have been ruined during Erdogan’s post- July 15 era in Turkey.

Here is the full article published by Ahval English:

On March 10, the Turkey Tribunal organised a webinar to discuss the state of judicial independence and access to justice in Turkey. The webinar was like a summit of worldwide renown figures in the area of judiciary. Among them were Diego Garcia Sayan, U.N. Special Rapporteur for Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Jose Igreja Matos, president of European Association of Judges, and Filipe Marques, president of European Judges for Democracy and Liberty (MEDEL).

The webinar was based on a new report on  “Judicial Independence and Access to Justice in Turkey.” The report shares facts, especially actions by public authorities, which have occurred in Turkey since 2010 as they relate to the role of the Turkish judiciary, with a special focus on the dramatic decline in the independence of the judiciary after the failed coup attempt of July 2016.

Leaving the content of the report and what was said by these most prominent and competent voices to the next article, I want to share my views as a witness in this webinar. This witness statement is a humble attempt to shake the EU’s and Council of Europe’s comfort in ignorance towards the catastrophe unfolding in Turkey.

In this testimony, I attempt to share the feeling of waking up to a Kafkaesque dystopia. This is exactly what I mean by saying “I went to bed a judge, and woke up a terrorist”. Indeed, this was exactly what happened to me and thousands of other colleagues in the wake of the failed putsch.

Since there are incredibly sad stories I witnessed among my fellow colleagues, I preferred to share some of those stories instead of mine. Because I managed to buy the freedom of myself and my children by paying $ 40,000 to smugglers, and have the luxury to speak up.

This luxury, in my view, brings along the responsibility to voice the illegalities and persecutions to silence each and every dissident in Turkey, not only among my persecuted colleagues, but also among all segments of society, including Kurds, Gülenists, democrats, leftists, LGBT community members, religious and ethnic minorities, etc.

However, to comply with the context of the report and the webinar, I had to focus on remembering the judges and lawyers who died in prison, on their way to flee to become a refugee, or on hunger strikes after 2016.

Among the judges who were found dead in their solitary confinement cells were Teoman Gökçe and Seyfettin Yiğit. Maybe, we will never be able to learn how they really died. Mehmet Tosun was another judge who died in a hospital after being released from a long-lasting imprisonment.

Mustafa Erdoğan’s story is particularly a touching one. He was a member of the high court when arrested on bogus and groundless charges. He was arrested in a hospital, right after undergoing a serious brain surgery. Following the arrest decision, he spent his last six months in the arrestee ward of the hospital without being allowed any family visits. Only after the deadly coma he went into was he released on paper. But remained in the same hospital in an unconscious state until he died on the fourth day of his “freedom.”

Fatma and Nasir Işık were among other colleagues, whose suffering we witnessed. Having been dismissed from their jobs, labelled as terrorists, faced with a years-long jail sentence and their passports cancelled, they had no other option other than fleeing their beloved country in a rubber boat in the Aegean Sea. Unfortunately, when the rubber boat they were put in by the human smugglers sank, their two children, three-year old Mahir and three-month old Ibrahim drowned in the cold and dark waters of Aegean Sea on Sept. 27, 2019. Let me ask the question I asked during the webinar, under which circumstances does a mother put her children in a rubber boat in the middle of the sea on an autumn night?

The famous photo of this young but devastated couple next to the tiny graves of their babies on Chios Island of Greece tells a lot. A young mother and a father mourning by the graves of their newly-buried babies, a shovel used by a father for the hardest task in the world, and shores of Turkey hardly seen in the eastern horizon…

When it comes to the story of Ebru Timtik, you see a rare example of dedication and struggle for one’s rights even under the most difficult and hopeless situations. Timtik was a lawyer at the age of 42. She was an active member of People’s Law Office (Halkın Hukuk Burosu), a fellow friend of Selçuk Kozağaçlı, who is still in prison for defending the rights of others, as a lawyer should do.

On the days she started her hunger strike to protest the arbitrariness and her resistance, Timtik was aware that the human body cannot survive for a long time without food. But to her, freedom and human rights were more important than bread. Eventually, she died on 238thday of her hunger strike as an arrestee ward of a hospital. She sacrificed herself for something we all need to cry out for – human rights and dignity.

So, all these people, along with hundreds or maybe thousands of others deserve to be remembered and honoured with actions. Otherwise, it would mean we are effectively aligning with the persecutors, not with the persecuted.

Resource:

Ahvalnews

Former judge Mustafa Genç performs the art of calligraphy despite the block of prison administration

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Former judge Mustafa Genç performs the art of calligraphy despite the block of prison administration

Former judge Mustafa Genç performs the art of calligraphy despite the block of prison administration.

Mustafa Genç was born in 1967. After serving as judge in different courts, he was elected to the Council of State in 2011.  He was dismissed and arrested in July 2016 following the coup attempt.

The prison administration did not allow Mr. Genç, who has been in prison for 4,5 years, to perform the art of calligraphy, which the Ministry of Justice spents hundreds of thousands Euros each year in order the prisoners to earn new skills in terms of self-improvement and education.

To be able to perform his art and to produce, he used materials such as shoe polish, pencil, watercolor, picture book, and tea that he had to buy at the prison canteen. His calligraphic artworks were shared on Instagram.

Source:

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