State of the Judiciary in Turkey: The Case of the Contemporary Lawyers Association and the Hunger Strikes of Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünal

The judicial institution which can be considered one of the main components of a democratic state, is losing its autonomy further and further each passing day in Turkey. The universal principles of law are not processed and arbitrary decisions are being made in the cases. The litigation process, which has been going on around the Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD) since 2013, stands ahead as a convenient example to assess the current state of the country's legal institution.

The genealogy of the judicial institution in Turkey is full of injustices. Especially people who go outside the 'good citizen' line are running out of their lives in painful Kafkaesque cases. In this context, as a current and tragic example, it is necessary to look at the process that drags Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal to indefinite ‘hunger strike’ and to remember the general judicial picture in the country. What happened?

• The first ÇHD case was filed against 22 lawyers in 2013. Lawyers have been accused of supporting, managing and being part of the DHKP/C (Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party / Front) a revolutionary Marxist-Leninist party. In addition, one of the defendants is charged with attempted manslaughter and altering the constitutional order. The ÇHD was closed on November 22^nd of 2016 by legislative decree.
• On 12^th and 21^st of September, 13^th of November and 30^th of December 2017, arrest warrants were issued against 20 ÇHD lawyers. The first arrests took place the day before the trial of  educators on hunger strike, Nuriye Gülmen and Semih Özakça, who were represented by ÇHD lawyers.
• The second Case of the ÇHD was filed in the fall of 2018 against 20 lawyers, eight of whom were put on trial in the first ÇHD case. Accusations were the same as the first case.
• On March 20^th 2019, 18 lawyers were sentenced by the Istanbul 37^th High Criminal Court.
• On September 14^th 2019, after the first week of proceedings, the Court decided to release all 17 lawyers.
• However, the Trial Prosecutor appealed against the sentence within 24 hours. After that Istanbul Court of Appeals have been issued "re-arrest warrants"
• On October 8^th 2019, Istanbul Court of Appeals upheld the relevant provision without an oral proceedings.
• After the hearings in September 2019, the Trial Prosecutor and the member of Court of Appeal changed. The President of the Court Akın Gürlek conducted the hearing.

Sentence ruled by Istanbul 37th High Criminal Court:

• Ahmet Mandacı and Zehra Özdemir sentenced to 2 years and 13 months and 15 days.
• Didem Baydar Ünsal, Ayşegül Çağatay, Rain Ereren Evin, Yaprak Türkmen sentenced to 3 years and 9 months.
• Ezgi Çakır sentenced to 7 years and 12 months in prison, but because his husband was also imprisoned, her sentence was turned into a house arrest under electronic supervision because she was a single mother to her daughter.
• Aycan Çiçek and Naciye Demir sentenced to 9 years.
• Engin Gökoğlu, Aytaç Ünsal, Süleyman Gökten sentenced to 10 years and 6 months.
• Selçuk Kozağaçlı sentenced to 11 years and 3 months.
• Behiç Aşçı and Şükriye Erden sentenced to 12 years.
• Özgur Yilmaz and Ebru Timtik sentenced to 13 years and 6 months.
• Barkın Timtik was sentenced to 18 years and 9 months for allegation of being the director of the organization.

Chronology of hunger strikes during the trial process

• Lawyer Ebru Timtik began a ‘hunger strike’ on January 3^rd, while lawyer Aytaç Ünsal began a hunger strike on February 3^rd. The lawyers' demands through these actions were "the overturning and acquittal of the 159-year prison sentence given by the High Criminal Court" and "accepting the demands of all of their clients and members of [leftist music band] Grup Yorum".
• On January 24^th, Day of the Endangered Lawyer, dedicated to imprisoned lawyers in Turkey for this year, lawyers who held in prisons began a ‘hunger strike’ action.
• March 10^th, 2020 ÇHD Secretary General Nergiz Tuba Aslan, pointed out that four of the eight lawyers on hunger strike have turned the hunger strike into an ‘indefinite hunger strike’ as of today. The lawyers who started the ‘indefinite hunger strike’ are: Ebru Timtik, Barkın Timtik, Aytaç Ünsal and Oya Aslan.
• Grup Yorum member Helin Bölek lost her life on April 3^rd, the 288^th day of her hunger strike.

• The Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD) announced that two of the four lawyers (Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal) who were on hunger strike in prison, has decided to turned their ‘hunger strike’ into the ‘indefinite hunger strike’ on the occasion of Lawyers Day on April 5^th.
• Mustafa Koçak, who was arrested in 2017 as part of “Murder of Prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz case” died on the 297^th day of his ‘hunger strike’. Koçak was a client of ÇHD. He had been sentenced to aggravated life in prison in 2019. After the sentence, Koçak had started a hunger strike demanding " fair trial in independent courts”.
• Grup Yorum member İbrahim Gökçek ended his hunger strike after the announcement that the concert ban against the band would be lifted on the 323^rd day of his hunger strike. On May 5^th he was hospitalised. However, Gökçek lost his life in the hospital where he was receiving treatment on May of 7^th.
• Upon the deterioration of Ünsal and Timtik's health condition, an application was made to the Supreme Court for their release from prison with a demand for a fair trial on 20^th of May.
• On June 2^nd, 1273 people, including deputies, artists, writers, academics, journalists and lawyers, demanded a priority examination of Timtik and Ünsal's case file which is in a Court of Appeal. They also asked lawyers to stop the hunger strike.
• 11,633 people from 46 countries signed to accept the demands of the imprisoned Timtik and Ünsal on 5^th of June.
• On July 16^th, Timtik and Ünsal's health has reached a critical level. Aytaç Ünsal has fallen under 60 kilos and Ebru Timtik has fallen under 40 kilos.
• Utku Çakırözer, CHP Eskişehir deputy, met with Ebru Timtik within the scope of his visit to Silivri Prison on 27th of July.
• On 29^th July lawyers gathered at the "Justice Watch" held in front of the Istanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan, drew attention to the health status of their colleagues Timtik and Ünsal.
• On 30^th of July, The Forensic Medicine Institute reported on Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal that it was not appropriate for them to stay in prison. Timtik and Ünsal's lawyers submitted their eviction petitions to the İstanbul 37^th High Criminal Court on the same day along with the report. However, the court rejected the request for the release on the same day, ruling that both lawyers remain in custody. On the same day, Timtik and Ünsal were forcibly taken to hospital.
• The Platform for Solidarity for Justice made a statement in front of the hospital, stressed that forced intervention is torture and can cause death, on 1^st of August.
• On 4th of August, The Central Executive Council of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) issued a written statement calling about "the demands of a fair trial of Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal should be taken into account and creating an environment where hunger strikes will not take place".
• Former HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş called for more sensitivity to lawyers who are fasting to death on 7^th of August.
• On 12^th of August, 33 bar association presidents said, "The risk is not only the lives of Ebru and Aytaç, but the ‘right to defense’ itself. Today, for everyone who has a conscience, it is a responsibility to keep Ebru and Aytaç alive."
• The Constitutional Court rejected the application for the release of lawyers. The court ruled that the health of the two lawyers were not in danger on 14^th of August.
• On 18^th of August, Ankara, Istanbul, Kocaeli, Adana, Izmir and Yalova bar association presidents visited the hospitals where both lawyers are kept.
• Ankara Medical Chamber (ATO), Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD), Human Rights Association (IHD) Ankara Branch, Association of Lawyers For Freedom (ÖHD), Healthcare and Social Workers' Union (SES) and Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) held a joint press conference to draw attention to the situation of Timtik and Ünsal on 22^nd of August.
• On 24^th of August dozens of Belgian lawyers took action in front of the Turkish Embassy in Brussels to release Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal, who were on death line. Ten Belgian lawyers went on hunger strike to support them.