The six Turkish lawyers are due to stand trial in Istanbul on 27 May, charged with ‘being members of a criminal
organisation’.
During a police raid on July 11, 2018, the lawyers representing Adnan Oktar and his associates were initially
detained as suspects. Charged with “being members of a criminal organization,” 5 lawyers were arrested, and all
their assets were confiscated. The court found all of them guilty, sentencing them to 4.5 years in jail, and the
appeal court upheld the decision. According to the Turkish Attorneyship Law, lawyers cannot practise their
profession if they are sentenced to 2 years or more for an offense. Accordingly they will not be able to practice
law.
In addition to this case, there is another case currently ongoing at the Istanbul High Criminal Court No. 1 (Case file
no. 2024/74 E.) in which 20 defendants, including 6 lawyers, are being tried on the same charge of “being
members of a criminal organization.”
The lawyers who are defendants in this case are:
(Two of these lawyers had already been tried and sentenced on the same charge following the police operation
carried out in 2018)
1. Atty. Burak Temiz (Istanbul Bar Association)
2. Atty. Pelin Durmuş (Istanbul Bar Association)
3. Atty. Sinem Mollahasanoglu (Istanbul Bar Association)
4. Atty. Tugba Bal (Istanbul Bar Association)
5. Atty. Ayşe Toprak (Istanbul Bar Association)
6. Atty. Arzu Gül (Ankara Bar Association)
In a letter to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) expressed
its concern regarding the criminalization of the advocacy work of the 6 defendant lawyers and requested that the
charges against them be dropped.
The International Bar Association Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) raised its concern about the prosecution of the
6 defendant lawyers in the following article:
https://www.ibanet.org/Turkiye-IBAHRI-expresses-serious-concern-over-trial-of-six-defence-lawyers
According to the law, permission of the Ministry of Justice is required for the investigation of lawyers, but this
permission was not obtained, and therefore the requirement for a trial was not fulfilled. The defendants
demanded a stay of proceedings on the grounds that permission for an investigation is required for “offenses
arising out of their duties” as per Article 58 of the Attorneyship Law.
At the hearing held on July 10, 2024, the court decided to separate the file concerning the defendant lawyers and
to stay the proceedings. The separated file was sent to the Ministry of Justice for evaluation in accordance with
Article 58 of the Lawyers Act.
In the response received from the Ministry of Justice on January 16, 2025, it was stated that the alleged offenses
were of a personal nature and unrelated to legal practice, and therefore, it would be appropriate to proceed
under general legal provisions. The file was returned to the court. As a result, the six lawyers will appear before the
judge at the Istanbul 1st High Criminal Court on May 27, 2025, to present their defense.
However, as outlined below, all the acts attributed to the defendants—from the investigation phase to the
prosecution phase—fall within the scope of legal practice:
During the investigation phase, the suspects (who are lawyers) were asked questions like below:
· Whom they represented as legal counsel,
· How much attorney’s fee they received,
· Whether they received this fee in cash or through other means,
· Whether a professional receipt was issued in return,
· Which of the defendants in the case they met with in prison,
· Whether they relayed their conversations with Adnan Oktar to other defendants, and
· Whether they carried out legal procedures in favor of the defendants.
The indictment includes the following allegations as criminal acts:
· Visiting the defendants who were part of the prosecuted group and detained in prison,
· Advising them on how to conduct their defense,
· Keeping case-related documents and information pertaining to their clients’ trials in their offices,
· Sending informational letters to various authorities on behalf of their clients.
These actions are presented as the basis for the criminal accusations.
In other words, all the alleged acts attributed to the suspects were carried out within the scope of legal
practice. The Ministry of Justice’s decision is legally incorrect, and these lawyers are being prosecuted on
charges of “membership in a criminal organization” solely due to their professional activities, which contain no
element of crime.
In a separate case file (2024/163) involving the same group, the same court recently handed down maximum
sentence convictions without any concrete evidence. It is evident that the judicial panel is biased against this
group, and there is a strong likelihood that unjust convictions will also be issued in the trial that is the subject of
this letter. Therefore, monitoring this case is not only crucial for the aforementioned six lawyers, but also essential
to ensure that all other lawyers—who are being intimidated and pressured through these prosecutions—can
practice their profession in a secure environment.
We will keep you updated.
May, 2025
