First Hand Account of the Fifth Hearing of the Kurdish Lawyers' Trial Held in the Silivri Prison Courtroom, outside Istanbul, on 20 June 2013
| Author | Margaret Owen |
| DOI | 10.1177/203228441300400304 |
| Date | 01 September 2013 |
| Published date | 01 September 2013 |
| Subject Matter | Opinion |
212 Inters entia
First hand account oF the FiFth
hearing oF the Kurdish Lawyers’
triaL heLd in the siLivri Prison
courtroom, outside istanbuL,
on 20June 2013
M O, OBE*
[Editor’s note: the prosecution of the Head of the Istanbul Bar Association an d its Board
Members is only one instance of the disregard for democracy and the rule of law in
contemporary Turkey. Another is the prosecution of lawyers representing Abdullah
Öcalan, many of whom are in jail pending judg ment. Not many readers will be able to
picture the scene inside the vast courtroom custom built in Silivri, 60 kilometres or so
outside Istanbul on the Sea of Marm ara for mass trials. It is intimidating and this shor t
reports conveys some of the atmosphe re. e mass trial of law yers is running parallel
with a similar trial against j ournalists taking place in the same arena.]
ISTANBUL, 21JUNE 20131
As we, the international obser vers2 feared and predicted, wh ile still hoping for a
miracle change in the minds of judge, prosecutor and government, the case against
the 45 Kurdish lawyers conti nues: the nub of the indict ment is that the law yers were
members of a “leadership committee” headed by Öcalan. is was the h hea ring.
* Barrister, 9, Bed ford Walk, London; Formerly adv iser on women’s and children’s right s to the
Kurdish Human R ights Project; P atron of Peace in Kurdist an and a member of the EU Turki sh Civil
Commission; Di rector of Widows for Peace throug h Democracy (WPD).
1 We learn today (24 October 2 013) that e prosecutor of 15th Crimina l Court has placed R amazan
Demir (one of the few lawyer s still operating on b ehalf of Öcalan a nd who has been the key law yer
assisting t he internationa l delegations at ever y hearing) u nder formal invest igation, aer hi s
submissions dur ing the heari ng in the ‘case of jour nalists acc used being KCK member s’. He is
summoned to appea r at Prosecutor of Sil ivri with in 10 days. e minis ter of justice has a lready
given his approva l. e investigation cou ld (unfortunately would) lead to t rial.
2 Bar Human R ights Committ ee; Barreau dAngers; Bar reau de Bordeaux; B arreau des Hauts de
Seine; Barre au de Paris; Bar reau de Rennes; Ba rreau de Rouen; Barre au de Toulouse; Conseil
National des Ba rreaux, France ; Conférence des Bâtonniers de France e t d’Outre-Mer; Deut scher
Anwaltverei n; Fair Trial Watch, Nether lands; Insti tut des Droits de l’ Homme du Barreau de
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