78 Bar Associations reacted to the verbal and physical attack suffered by lawyers at the hearing of TJA Term Spokesperson Ayşe Gökkan and demanded an immediate investigation against the chair of the court board and the law enforcement officers.
At the hearing of Tevgera Jinên Azad (TJA) Term Spokesperson Ayşe Gökkan at Diyarbakır 9th High Criminal Court, on Monday, the presiding judge intervened as the lawyers were speaking during the hearing and threatened them by saying “In this court what I say is implemented. Don't go too far”.
Nahit Eren, chair of the Amed Bar Association, and board members sought to negotiate with the court, but the presiding judge said that he would not listen to them and ordered police officers to take the lawyers out. The lawyers reacted to the harassment and were battered by police officers and taken out of the courtroom.
78 bar associations in Turkey opposed the verbal and physical attacks against the defense lawyers and lawyers, including the Diyarbakır Bar Association President Nahit Eren. jointly published a written statement.
The statement underlined the determination to fight threats and attacks against defense lawyers and the legal profession, which are among the founding pillars of the judiciary.
Right of defense is the guarantee of a fair trial
Reminding that Gökkan and her lawyers were verbally and physically assaulted by the law enforcement officers at the hearing on Tuesday, the statement said: "It its compulsory to recognize the right to be heard, to see all the evidence about the suspect-defendant, to have the right to speak out against the evidence, to present evidence for the defendant defense, and to collect these evidences."
The lawyers said: "We would like to remind once again that lawyers are the guarantee of the right to defense, the right to a fair trial and the freedom to seek justice."
The statement added: "No one's freedom is guaranteed in a society where the defense office, that is, lawyers, cannot be free and effective," and continued as follows: "No person or institution can prevent a lawyer from performing his/her defense duties, nor can he physically attack or insult the lawyer. The duty of the lawyer is to protect the guarantees provided by the state of law to individuals and to ensure that these rights and guarantees are used. We reiterate once again our determination to fight against unacceptable attitudes such as the prevention of lawyers' professional activities, their expulsion from the courtroom, exposing them to physical attacks and insults. Our determination to defend the State of Law, the right to a fair trial, the right to a defense, our profession and our colleagues should be known. We state that the President of the 9th High Criminal Court of Diyarbakır and the law enforcement officers involved in the incident should be dismissed immediately and the necessary judicial and administrative investigation should be launched against them."
The following bars signed the statement:
Adana Bar, Adıyaman Bar, Afyonkarahisar Bar, Ağrı Bar, Aksaray Bar, Amasya Bar, Ankara Bar, Antalya Bar, Ardahan Bar, Artvin Bar, Aydın Bar, Balıkesir Bar, Bartın Bar, Batman Bar, Bilecik Bar Association, Bingöl Bar, Bitlis Bar, Bolu Bar, Burdur Bar, Bursa Bar, Çanakkale Bar, Çankırı Bar, Çorum Bar, Denizli Bar, Diyarbakır Bar, Düzce Bar, Edirne Bar, Elazığ Bar, Erzincan Bar, Erzurum Bar, Eskişehir Bar, Gaziantep Bar, Giresun Bar, Gümüşhane-Bayburt Regional Bar, Hakkari Bar, Hatay Bar, Iğdır Bar, Isparta Bar, Istanbul Bar, İzmir Bar, Kahramanmaraş Bar, Karabük Bar, Kars Bar, Kastamonu Bar, Kayseri Bar, Kırıkkale Bar, Kırklareli Bar , Kırşehir Bar, Kilis Bar, Kocaeli Bar, Konya Bar, Kütahya Bar, Malatya Bar, Manisa Bar, Mardin Bar, Mersin Bar, Muğla Bar, Muş Bar, Nevşehir Bar, Niğde Ba bar, Ordu Bar, Osmaniye Bar, Sakarya Bar, Samsun Bar, Siirt Bar, Sinop Bar, Sivas Bar, Şanlıurfa Bar, Şırnak Bar, Tekirdağ Bar, Tokat Bar, Trabzon Bar, Tunceli Bar, Uşak Bar, Van Bar, Yalova Bar, Yozgat Bar Association, Zonguldak Bar Association.
