The uncle of Ebru Timtik, Yildirim Deniz, who spoke in the action organized by the Resistance Council for the lawyers on death fast, Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal, said: “Their bodies are melting day by day. We also melt outside. Are they waiting for our children to die?”
Istanbul – BIA News Center
02 August 2020,
The Resistance Council held a statement in front of the Dr. Sadi Konuk Education and Research Hospital in Bakirköy, in order to draw attention to the situation of the lawyers Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal who are on death fast.
After the speeches, the mass continued to wait in front of the hospital. The police intervened on the crowd, who opposed the termination of the biding in front of the hospital. The police detained citizens named Volkan Çeşme and Erkan Munar.
Members of the Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD), The Lawyers Association for Freedom (ÖHD), The Provincial Organization of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP), the Solidarity Association with Families of Detainees and Convicts (TAYAD), members of the Peace Mothers Initiative, Timtik’s relatives and many citizens attended the action.
According to the news of the Mesopotamian Agency (MA), during the statement posters with the writings “The demands of Ebru and Aytaç shall be accepted”, “The people’s lawyers shall be released” were carried and people shouted frequently the slogans “Fair trial is a right” and “Ebru, Aytaç shall live”.
Volkan Çeşme: They wanted to charge their lawyer profession
Resistance Council member Volkan Cesme who made the first statement, said taht Timtik and Ünsal had started death fast for the right of fair trial and stated that it was the 213th day of death fast for Timtik and the 182nd day for Ünsal.
Cesme, who stressed that the lawyers weren’t able to find justice in the court rooms neither for themselves nor for their clients and therefore layed down their bodies for hunger, noted:
“18 lawyers whom unrequited defended the cases of all poor people who faced injustice, as Gezi, Soma, Hasan Ferit Gedik and Dilek Dogan, were punished with a sentence of 159 years prison in total. Actually what has been tried in their person was the lawyer’s profession. The aim was to liquidate the lawyership for the people which defends the rights of those facing injustice.”
“The lights of Ünsal’s room are on the whole night.”
Noting that the “torture” against the lawyers continues in the hospital, Çeşme said that the light of the room where Ünsal was kept was switched on all night so that it prevented him from sleeping.
Çeşme said, “Despite the threat of forced intervention, isolation and torture by deprival of sleep, Ebru and Aytaç continue to resist for their right to a fair trial. They and their families declared that they did not accept any intervention. Therefore, being kept in the hospital is also unlawful. Our lawyers should be released immediately” he said.
Esengül Demir: Political and legal garbage
Speaking in the action, Esengül Demir, a member of the HDP Party Assembly (PM), stated that the demands of the lawyers in action were neglected despite of their critical health state. Demir said:
“We are facing a serious political and legal strangeness. We want Ebru and Aytaç to live. For this reason, they should be released immediately and be treated with their own will. We declare that we will be in solidarity with them so that they can survive and win the legal struggle.”
Yıldırım Deniz: Are they waiting for them to die?
Timtik’s uncle, Yıldırım Deniz, said:
“My niece Ebru has been on the death fast for 213 days, and Aytaç has been on the death fast for 181 days. We want our children to live. They interfered in their right to a fair trial, they shall not interfere in their lives. Our goal is that our children don’t die. Their bodies are melting day by day. We also melt outside. Our nights and days are uncertain.”
“While everyone is on holiday, we defend the lives of our children here. Why are they punished so much just for being a lawyer? Their files were taken to the preliminary examination at the Supreme Court, and although they were at a critical stage, there is still no news from there. Are they waiting for our children to die? We want our children to live and we want them to be released and judged fairly right away.”
ATK (Forensic Medicine Institute): They cannot stay in prison
With the demand for a “fair trial”, Aytaç Ünsal has been on death fast for 213 days, lawyer Ebru Timtik who is imprisoned at Silivri prison for 213 days.
The file of the ÇHD case they were tried is under investigation in the 16th Criminal Division of the Supreme Court.
The Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK), in its first report on the detained lawyers on the death fast, made the assessment “It is not appropriate for them to stay in prison”. The lawyers of Timtik and Ünsal, together with the report, submitted their petitions to the 37th Assize Court.
The court evaluated the request for release and ordered continuation of detention for both lawyers and their transfer to the hospital. Timtik was taken to Bakırköy’s Sadi Konuk Education and Research Hospital, and Ünsal to Halkalı’s Kanuni Sultan Suleiman Hospital.
The lawyers objected to this decision of the court in the upper court and anew requested the release.
