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14 of the 16 detained attorneys of academic Nuriye Gülmen and teacher Semih Özakça who have been continuing their hunger strike in prison, have been arrested.
The 16 attorneys from the People's Law Office that is representing Gülmen and Özakça were taken into custody on September 12, two days before the next hearing of the academics. The law office regarding the detention had said: "They want to leave Semih and Nuriye without legal representation".
The attorneys were referred to the prosecutor's office only yesterday (September 20) after being kept for nine days in detention.
Attorneys Didem Baydar, Şükriye Erden, Ayşegül Çağatay, Ebru Timtik, Aytaç Ünsal, Zehra Özdemir, Yağmur Ereren, Engin Gökoğlu, Süleyman Gökten, Aycan Çiçek, Naciye Demir, Behiç Aşçı, Barkın Timtik and Özgür Yılmaz were arrested after their testimonies were taken.
Attorneys Ahmet Mandacı and Ezgi Gökten were released.
The prosecutor listed following charges in the indictment some of which are based on a witness statement:
"Acting as defenders"
The attorneys are being accused of defending Nuriye Gülmen and Semih Özakça, acting as defenders in the trials of Dilek Doğan and Berkin Elvan who were killed by police as well as Hasan Ferit Gedik killed by a drug gang.
"Opposing to the conditions of the State of Emergency"
In the indictment, the attorneys are also being impeached for their statement that "the period of time, people detained on grounds of State of Emergency laws, have to spend in detention after giving their testimony before the prosecutor's office until they are referred to court, is an arbitrary treatment and is therefore unlawful".
"Setting up a committee"
Grounding the accusations on a witness statement, the prosecutor considered also the committee formed by the defendants regarding incidents in Sur, Cizre, Silvan, Reyhanlı, Soma and Ermene such as natural disasters, occupational homicides and terror incidents which have become a topic on the agenda, a crime.
Based upon the witness statement, the prosecutor also claimed that the above mentioned committees held press statements on behalf of the "Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C) after returning to İstanbul and conveyed their observations in the above mentioned regions to the abroad committee of the party through encrypted notes".
Attorney Ebru Timtik reports torture by police
In her deposition, detained attorney Ebru Timtik stated that they began to be tortured after being handed in to the police in İstanbul.
"I especially want to tell about the torture on September 18. Until that day, we used to go to our regular medical examinations and come back without any problem. But on that day, they told us that they would make a search and when we asked about the reason, they said that we might have taken something with us from the doctor". Timtik explained and noted that she had been attacked despite explaining that it was impossible that they had taken anything with them and added:
"They smashed attorney Didem Ünsal's head to the wall.
"A woman police officer, whom I knew from years ago and was subjected to investigations and accusations of harassing male prisoners, pushed me to the ground. She was being helped by other officers. They stepped on every joint and limb on our bodies and twisted our arms to the back and took our fingerprints. In the meanwhile, a blonde police officer whom we knew as well, was pressing towards my waist to cut my breath. They later pulled me by the hair and tried to take a photograph. I resisted these practices. Because my fingerprints had already been taken in the police department".
What happened?
Police raided the offices of People's Law Office in İstanbul and Ankara as well as the houses of its attorneys around midnight (September 11-12). Attorneys from the law office were taken into custody in the raid.
People's Law Office issued a statement as to the attorneys being taken into custody just two days before the hearing, and wrote on its Twitter account:
"They want to leave Semih and Nuriye without legal representation. They raided the offices of People's Law Office in İstanbul and Ankara. You see in Semih and Nuriye's situation, how you will end up. That is why you are taking their attorneys in custody two days before their hearing".
Following the detention of the attorneys, 1,030 attorneys attested a power of attorney to the court and approximately 200 attorneys observed the hearing on September 14 and support their colleagues as well as Gülmen and Özakça. (HK/DG)
