Human Rights Defender Kalaycı Released

Lawyer Filiz Kalaycı, member of the Central Executive Committee of the Human Rights Association (İHD) has been released after 8 months in detention. İHD member Nedim Taş who had been arrested together with Kalaycı is still kept in detention.

More than 90 lawyers attended the second hearing on 28 January at the Ankara 11th High Criminal Court for Kalaycı's defence. As reported by İHD, a total number of 274 lawyers attended both hearings for Kalaycı's defence.

The next hearing of the case is scheduled for 10 June.

Witness: "My statement was taken under pressure"

Kalaycı was charged with membership of an illegal organization, supposedly proven by statements to be accounted for as evidence. However, witness Alpaslan Özkan stated that these statements had been taken at the police station only after considerable pressure had been imposed on the witness and that he actually did not know Kalaycı before.

Kalaycı: Evidence is unlawful

Kalaycı pointed out that the process of gathering evidence was unlawful since it had not been initiated by the prosecution. Even private telephone conversations were put forward as evidence, Kalaycı remarked. "We know the implementations of torture at the Anti-Terrorism Branch to create evidence. If this is happening again, it is the prosecutors' and the court's duty to prevent it", Kalaycı argued. She furthermore indicated that the police was disturbed by being reminded to the right of arrested political defendants to refuse to give evidence.

"There has not been any telephone conversation which could be associated to the allegations. Does footage from legal press releases count as evidence?" Kalaycı indicated that the aim of this case was to intimidate rights defenders.

Judge: Unlawful evidence unacceptable

President Judge Hasan Şatır said that unlawful gathering of evidence was wrong in principle.

Kalaycı's lawyers stated that the investigation was carried out in contrary to the legislation since the lawyers were hindered to do their job freely. They claimed that the investigation was based entirely on imputing evidence to their client and that the defence was "forced to prove innocence".

Lawyer Kemal Aytaç emphasized that the imprisonment was a "punishment of suspicion":

"Kalaycı was perceived as a lawyer for an illegal organization because she joined cases of the organization. With the same reasoning, is the judge involved in a case about the organization a judge of this illegal organization, or is the judge dealing with a drug case a judge involved with drugs?"

"Invented evidence"

Before her detention, Kalaycı was struggling against rights violations in prisons. She had been arrested in Ankara on 12 May 2009 together with İHD members lawyer Hasan Anlar, lawyer Halil İbrahim Vargün, lawyer Murat Vargün and Nedim Taş under allegations of "membership of an illegal organization". The lawyers were released from detention after four days. Kalaycı was arrested again on 28 May upon the prosecutor's objection and taken to the Sincan Closed F Type Women Prison. The first hearing was held on 9 November.

İHD said that the case had been opened unlawfully based on invented evidence. With this case the police "intended to place obstacles before the defensive profession of Kalayıcı and other lawyers and hinder their work as human rights defenders. The police tried to threaten these people and also other lawyers and activits". (OA/TK/VK)