Human Rights Association: Release rights defenders detained in Ağrı

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Releasing a written statement, the Human Rights Association (İHD) has demanded the release of İHD Ağrı Provincial Chair Atilla Özbey and executive Emin Yıldız, who have been in detention since October 6.

According to the statement of the association, the statements for the press the two have made and the demonstrations and meetings they have attended since 2013 have been cited as criminal evidence:

"As per the Article 34 of the Constitution, it is the most fundamental human right to hold a meeting and demonstration without arms and violence. Similarly, as per the Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), assembly and association is one of the fundamental rights.

"The fact that police operations are conducted in every part of Turkey almost everyday by considering legal and legitimate activities to be a crime shows that the government's policy of pressure through the judiciary continues without any interruptions.

"With the recent operation in Ağrı, it has become all the more apparent that Turkey does not abide by the United Nations (UN) Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. We ask the public to show sensitivity about the issue and demand that our executives engaging in human rights activities be released as soon as possible." (AS/SD)