Lawyer accused of planting bomb in Taksim spends night at courthouse after harassment

Jiyan Tosun speaking at the Sevinç Özgüner Human Rights Award ceremony in May 2019.

A lawyer stayed at a courthouse for hours after she was accused on social media of perpetrating yesterday's (November 13) bomb attack on İstanbul's İstiklal Avenue, which left six people killed.

After the authorities said the bombing suspect was a woman, Adem Taşkaya, a member of the far-right Victory (Zafer) Party, claimed the suspect shown in security camera footage was Jiyan Tosun, who he said had planted the bomb in the name of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

He later deleted the tweet but the claim spread quickly on social media. He later said he had seen the allegation on Telegram and deleted three minutes after posting it on Twitter.

However, Tosun was at a police station with her client in the Küçükçekmece district on the outskirts of İstanbul.

She is a member of the Human Rights Association and the daughter of Fehim Tosun, who disappeared after being detained in 1995.

After receiving threats, Tosun went to the courthouse to file a complaint and stayed there until early morning, the T24 news portal reported. She then moved to the Avcılar Police Station after not being able to find a prosecutor.

She later went to the courthouse and filed a complaint.

Threats against İHD co-chair

The İHD condemned the threats against Tosun in a written statement today. Noting that its co-chair Eren Keskin received similar threats, the group said, "We state that we don't accept the targeting and threatening of rights advocates."

It said an investigation should be opened against the threats.

Later in the day, at a press briefing organized by the İHD İstanbul Branch, Keskin played the recording of a phone call where someone threatened her. In the recording, a man is heard accusing Keskin of perpetrating the attack with foul language.

Avukat Eren Keskin, kendisini tehdit edenlerin ses kaydını paylaştı. Buna benzer, kendi numarasıyla rahatlıkla arayabilen en az 500 kişi olduğunu belirtti.

"Nerede devlet? Devlet sadece bize karşı mı var" diyen Keskn, şu vurguyu yaptı: "Bu bilinçli bir devlet operasyonudur!" pic.twitter.com/OV6Xv14NLN

— Etkin Haber (ETHA) (@EthaEtkin) November 14, 2022

"I have received hundreds of such calls," said Keskin, questioning how can so many people find her phone number.

"This is a deliberate state operation," she said, noting that the number she uses was registered under Tosun's name. "They were first calling me Jiyan. They they started calling me Eren."

Six people were killed and 81 others were injured in the bombing on the busy pedestrian street in the popular tourist area of Taksim.

The person suspected of planting the bomb under a bench on the street was detained early today. (VK)