‘Re-Arrest’ of Lawyers on Parliamentary Agenda

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Siirt MP of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Meral Danış Beştaş has brought the re-arrest of lawyers of the Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD) and People's Law Bureau (HHB) into parliamentary agenda.

Six lawyers from the ÇHD and HHB, including ÇHD Chair Selçuk Kozağaçlı, for whom the 37th Heavy Penal Court issued a verdict of release on September 14, were arrested again as per the ruling of the same court.

CLICK - Selçuk Kozağaçlı Arrested Again at 10-Minute 'Hearing'

Danış Beştaş has submitted a parliamentary inquiry regarding the re-arrest of the lawyers to be responded by Minister of Justice Abdülhamit Gül.

In the inquiry, it has been stated, "ÇHD Chair Selçuk Kozağaçlı was detained and arrested 'on suspicion of escape' without taking it into consideration that he went to the courthouse himself upon the ruling of the court."

In the inquiry, it has also been indicated, "The implementation of the verdicts given by the courts which hear the cases in question is made impossible due to the objections of the public prosecutors."

"Was it worried that the verdict of release could set a precedent?"

In her parliamentary inquiry addressed to Minister of Justice Gül, HDP MP Danış Beştaş has asked,

"Did the prosecutor object to the verdict of release because the court, which ruled for the release of lawyers, revealed the unlawful situation in the trial?

"Did the prosecutor object to the verdict of release because it was worried that this ruling would set a precedent to numerous other unlawful trials?"

In her parliamentary inquiry, Danış Beştaş has also asked "whether the members of the judiciary, who first ruled for the release of the lawyers and then for their re-arrest, were given instructions."

What happened?

Most of the lawyers, who are members of the Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD) and People's Law Bureau (HHB), were detained during the police raids against their bureaus on September 12, 2017, and were arrested on September 20. Kozağaçlı was arrested on November 13, 2017.

At their hearing held on September 14, 2018, the İstanbul 37th Heavy Penal Court ruled for the release of the lawyers Ahmet Mandacı, Aycan Çiçek, Ayşegül Çağatay, Aytaç Ünsal, Barkın Timtik, Behiç Aşçı, Didem Baydar Ünsal, Ebru Timtik, Engin Gökoğlu, Naciye Demir, Özgür Yılmaz, Selçuk Kozağaçlı, Süleyman Gökten, Şükriye Erden, Yağmur Ererken, Yaprak Türkmen and Zehra Özdemir.

The court ruled for their release with reference to their duration of arrest and legal precedents of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and on the ground that the classification of the offence has changed and the defendants are lawyers and were arrested as a measure.

The arrest warrants issued for the fugitive lawyers Günay Dağ andOya Aslan, who have been tried in the same case, are still in effect.

The court also ruled that the lawyers shall be released on probation.

However, one day after the verdict of release issued for the lawyers, an arrest warrant was issued for them upon the objection of the Prosecutor's Office. As of September 17, five of the released lawyers were arrested again.

On September 17, ÇHD Chair Selçuk Kozağaçlı was also arrested again by the 37th Heavy Penal Court, which previously ruled for his release.

The next hearing of the lawyers will be held on February 19-20, 2019. (AS/SD)