Turkish human rights defender faces baseless criminal charges
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – All charges againstÖztürk Türkdoğan, a lawyer and co-chair of Human Rights Association (IHD) in Turkey, must be dropped, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
Türkdoğan faces baseless charges of membership of a terrorist organization, insulting a public official and insulting the Turkish nation and the Turkish state.
In March 2021, the Turkish forces raided Türkdoğan house in the Turkish capital Ankara, arrested him and confiscated his mobile phone and laptop.
He was released later under judicial supervision.
The most serious charge Türkdoğan faces, consists of his speeches, statements, and conversations in his capacity as the co-chair of the IHD. The indictment include calls to end the prolonged solitary confinement of Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) according to HRW.
The indictment also cites three photographs found on Türkdoğan’s laptop showing banners prepared by the IHD. Two protest solitary confinements in prisons and the treatment of sick prisoners and a third calls for the recognition of Saddam Hussein’s Anfal campaign in Iraqi Kurdistan in the 1980s as a genocide against Kurds.
The indictment also asserts that Türkdoğan transferred money “to persons subject to legal processes in connection with terrorist organization membership,” an allegation he denies, HRW said.
Türkdoğan is also accused of “insulting” Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu.
The Turkish government should stop harassing human rights defenders and ensure that they can carry out their legitimate activities without fear of reprisals, arrest, and abusive criminal proceedings, HRW added.