Dilek Ekmekci, a Turkish criminal lawyer, has been arrested in Türkiye. Since 2020, she has been working on the sexual exploitation of children in state care. In the case of assassination of Sinan Ates, former leader of the far-right party Grey Wolves (Turkish: Ulku Ocaklari), she has been investigating the involvement of the state members. On 30th August, she made a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) posing questions about the role of the Nationalist Movement Party officials (Turkish: Milliyet Halk Partisi, MHP) and Grey Wolves members’ involvement in the crime of Sinan Ates while making complaints about 25 members reported to have been involved in human trafficking. Shortly after her complaint, she was detained for “defamation” and “insulting public officials” regarding her X post, and was charged for “membership in a terrorist organisation” After the first hearing, on the 22nd October, she was released by the Istanbul 24th High Criminal Court.
2 days later, on the 24th October, “detention order pending arrest” was issued regarding by Istanbul 25th High Criminal Court as “ the statements of the complainant and the witness whose hearing was cancelled should have been taken” during the hearing held by the Istanbul 24th High Criminal Court. Therefore, she was arrested again for the same charges. After lodged complaints by the ruling party’s MP Osman Gokcek, a psychiatric evaluation was ordered in which she is required to stay in the psychiatric hospital for 3 weeks. She claims that her arrest is an attempt to cover the authorities’ involvement in human trafficking, working with the mafia networks in Türkiye. Her freedom of exercising her profession is being forcibly taken away from her in this way to cover up the parallel structures in the law enforcement. On the 18th November, she announced her indefinite hunger strike.
There have been many inconsistencies an unclarities during the legal processes of Ekmekci’s case, according to Istanbul Bar Association:
- What reasonings were stated, what legal processing occurred to order her “detention order pending arrest” 2 days after her release?
- Under what reason, power or authority does the Istanbul 25th High Criminal Court issued the necessity of statements that were cancelled during the hearing by the Istanbul 24th High Criminal Court?
- Even though there has been no evidence to indicate she’s guilty for the charges stated, why is she arrested?
- What is the impact of having high-level politicians in the complaint she’s made and the investigations being made regarding the case?
- What is the reason behind the ordering of her psychiatric evaluation?
Rights Defenders join the demands of International Association of Lawyers in calling for her immediate release and guarantee respect for the fundamental rights of lawyers. Her arrest is an instrument to intimidate complaints made against politicians on strong grounds, directly implying judicial repression. We urge the Turkish authorities to respect and guarantee the protection of the freedom to exercise the lawyers’ profession, regardless of who the complaint may be about. The treatment put Ekmekci’s physical and mental wellbeing at risk and is an attempt to discredit her work regarding atrocities committed by authorities. We demand her Dilek Ekmekci’s immediate release.
References
https://www.mlsaturkey.com/tr/avukat-dilek-ekmekci-yeniden-tutuklandi
https://bianet.org/haber/arrested-lawyer-dilek-ekmekci-begins-hunger-strike-301911
https://www.meldamervetekcan.com/gozlem-altina-alinma-cmk-madde-74
