The İstanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court has delivered its verdict in a case targeting members of the pro-Kurdish lawyers’ group, the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD), and the Association for Solidarity with Prisoners’ Families (TUAD).

After nearly a decade-long trial, 37 TUAD members and 10 ÖHD-affiliated lawyers were convicted today on charges of “membership in an armed terrorist organization” and “terrorist propaganda.”

The lawyers protested the decision in front of İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan, chanting slogans including “Bijî berxwedana ÖHD” (Long live the ÖHD resistance), “Bijî berxwedana zindana” (Long live the prison resistance), and “The defense did not remain silent, and it won’t.”

The charges against TUAD members were based on their advocacy against rights violations in prisons, their press statements, and efforts to assess the health conditions of prisoners who began a hunger strike in 2012. For 12 ÖHD lawyers, their professional activities, including prison visits, court monitoring, and phone calls with clients and colleagues, were presented as evidence of criminal conduct.

While the court’s reasoned decision is expected in the coming days, the right to appeal has been preserved.

'Legitimizing Gülen network's plot'

Speaking to bianet, Emrah Baran, a member of ÖHD’s İstanbul branch, evaluated the case and the implications of the verdict:

“All of the evidence in the case was fabricated by police officers, prosecutors, and judges affiliated with the Gülen movement. They conducted unlawful wiretaps and surveillance, placed listening devices in association offices, and even recorded conversations in attorney-client meeting rooms in prisons.

"Investigations into ÖHD lawyers began with wiretap orders under the guise of ‘communication detection.’ This process effectively ended in 2013, after the Gülen network’s influence within the judiciary and police declined following the Dec 17–25 corruption probes. Evidence collection and surveillance efforts were halted.

“The accusations are entirely based on lawyers’ meetings with their clients in prisons, their phone calls, and internal coordination and consultation on legal matters. Similarly, TUAD members’ solidarity work, carried out in line with their association’s bylaws, was framed as criminal activity in the indictment.

"The court relied on indictments and evidence fabricated as part of a plot by Gülenist officials and handed down heavy prison sentences, including to 10 ÖHD lawyers. This decision effectively legitimizes the conspiracy orchestrated by the Gülen network through the judiciary.”

‘Criminalization of ÖHD’

“Yet in the Selam-Tevhid and OdaTV cases, the police officers, prosecutors, and judges who fabricated similar evidence were prosecuted and convicted.

"But when it comes to a case involving Kurds and Kurdish lawyers, the same methods and fabricated evidence were not treated as part of a plot. On the contrary, they formed the basis of convictions.”

“While there is ongoing rhetoric about resolving the Kurdish issue, moving away from violence, and strengthening democratic politics, lawyers are being sentenced to decades in prison for actions that clearly fall within the realm of democratic political engagement and legal defense.

"This reveals a deliberate attempt to criminalize ÖHD’s work on rights violations and political case monitoring. As ÖHD, we once again declare that these sentences will not stop us. We will continue our struggle for justice.”

‘May our people stay strong’

Meanwhile, lawyer Ramazan Demir was among those who received one of the harshest sentences in the case.

In a social media post following the verdict, Demir announced that he had been sentenced to a total of 11 years and 3 months in prison without any sentence reductions, on charges of membership in a terrorist organization and spreading terrorist propaganda. “May our people stay strong,” he wrote.

Lawyer Tamer Doğan commented, “For defending the Kurdish people and supporting Kobane, the İstanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court has awarded us all with various medals after a case that has dragged on for 10 years. I got 5 years and 5 months. We will continue to defend the Kurdish people and stand against genocide and jihadist gangs.” (TY/VK)