Please be advised that the transfer of Mr. Adnan Oktar and 14 other detained defendants to Istanbul from various cities across Turkey (regarding cases 2024/60 and 2024/74) on 22-25 May would be an extremely torturous process. Just like the usage of SEGBIS (online trial system), this also would be an extremely serious violation of the right to defense.
We’ve received verbal notification from the 1st High Criminal Court indicating that the defendants will be transferred to Istanbul for a few days, solely for the duration of the hearings. This decision would be akin to a form of torture. This is because the defendants, including Mr. Adnan Oktar, were recently relocated to prisons in various cities across Turkey. Subjecting them to the repetition of this arduous process which entails up to 10 hours of travel in extremely confined spaces and challenging conditions, is nothing short of torture.
We have previously stated with various petitions that Mr Adnan Oktar and other defendants did not want to attend the court via SEGBİS as it is a violation of the right to a fair trial. However, THEY ALSO DEFINITELY DO NOT WANT THE EXTREMELY TORTUROUS PROCESS OF BEING TRANSFERRED TO ISTANBUL FOR ONE WEEK ONLY TO BE TRANSFERRED BACK AGAIN. The defendants have already been subjected to similar torturous processes many times over the course of their ongoing 6-year imprisonment.
IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN CLEAR THAT THE TRIAL WOULD BE HELD IN ISTANBUL, BUT DESPITE THIS FACT, THE DEFENDANTS WERE RECENTLY TRANSFERRED TO MOST DISTANT CITIES OF TURKEY (2000 KM AWAY) IN CELL-LIKE VEHICLES (each detainee sitting handcuffed in iron cage compartments closed on four sides and without windows), without being able to access food or drink. THIS IS CLEARLY A FORM OF TORTURE. NOW WE ARE INFORMED THAT THIS PROCESS WILL BE REPEATED AGAIN AND AGAIN.
As a matter of fact, last month, 3 female detainees who were transferred to Kayseri Women’s Prison and 1 male detainee who was transferred to Kırşehir Type Closed Penitentiary Institution were subjected to these inhumane practices. They were forced to travel for 17 hours without water, food or restroom facilities. Therefore, there is no guarantee that these defendants will not be transferred again under the same conditions.
Furthermore, during the process of placement in temporary prisons, procedures such as registration and temporary wards have been extremely tormenting. The detainees reported to the relevant authorities with detailed petitions that they could not meet their most basic needs, that they could not even take their defense documents with them.
In addition, IT IS UNCERTAIN WHETHER THE DEFENDANTS WILL BE PLACED IN A PRISON (WHICH WOULD BE A LIFE-THREATENING RISK FOR THE DEFENDANTS) OR STAY IN CONFINEMENT during this period.
THE WHOLE PURPOSE IS TO ELIMINATE THE DEFENSE, THEN WHY NOT JUST PRONOUNCE THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF SENTENCE WITHOUT ALL THESE TORTUROUS FORMALITIES?
If, due to an online trial, a verdict is to be rendered for sentences spanning hundreds of years based solely on distorted images displayed on a monitor, devoid of the ability to discern facial expressions, body language, or even the words spoken by the accused, it would be more reasonable for a court to decide the verdict from the outset, where defendants are unable to present a defense. Similarly, if a verdict is to be reached by subjecting defendants to a grueling journey of over 2000 kilometers, constraining their defense while they are exhausted, tired, hungry, thirsty, fatigued, and weakened, then the avoidance of this torturous process would be the more humane choice for the defendants.
It constitutes a grave violation of rights for a defendant, especially in a case where he faces potential sentences spanning hundreds of years, to appear before a judge with his capacity for self-defense utterly compromised. The transfer of Mr. Adnan Oktar to a distant location within Turkey, when all the cases against him are centralized in Istanbul, unmistakably serves as a means of torment. Therefore, it is Mr. Adnan Oktar’s fundamental right as a defendant, in line with human rights principles, to remain in Istanbul throughout the entirety of the trial, especially considering he was taken away from Istanbul against his will.
Hence, it is imperative that Mr. Adnan Oktar and the other defendants in case numbers 2024/60 and 2024/74 be brought to Istanbul at least 3-5 days prior to the hearings and be accommodated in prisons located within Istanbul for the duration of the entire trial process. Ideally, the trial should be conducted in the courtrooms of Silivri, with the defendants housed in the premises of the Marmara Penal Execution Institution to facilitate their defense.
The continued violation of human rights and disregard for the law against Mr. Adnan Oktar and his associates, persisting for over 6 years, compounds the ongoing abuses of human rights and legal standards.
The circumstances outlined above clearly demonstrate the severe difficulties and human rights violations faced by Mr. Adnan Oktar and the other defendants.
Our sole purpose in sharing this information is to provide a factual account of the ongoing proceedings and the conditions surrounding them.
This article is intended only to inform interested parties about the case and the related concerns in the context of fundamental rights.
