Deniz Tekin
A Turkish court has acquitted former Diyarbakır Bar Association President Nahit Eren, Vice President Mehdi Özdemir, and nine other board members who were on trial for allegedly "insulting the Turkish nation, the Republic of Turkey, and state institutions" (under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code) over their statement commemorating the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2021.
With this ruling, all six cases filed against the association’s executives under the same article between 2017 and 2022 have ended in acquittal.
Court ruling and trial proceedings
The second hearing of the trial was held at the largest courtroom of the Diyarbakır Courthouse due to the high number of defendants and observers. Former Bar President Nahit Eren and former board members Zuhal Işık, Mehdi Özdemir, Serdar Özer, Diyar Rüknedin Çetedir, Öykü Çakmak, and Hatice Demir attended the session, with support from current Bar President Abdulkadir Güleç and numerous lawyers.
Representatives from the Human Rights Association (İHD), the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV), the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD), and the Diyarbakır branch of the Rights Initiative also followed the trial.
The prosecutor, in the final opinion on the case, stated that the legal elements of the alleged crime had not been met and requested the defendants’ acquittal. The defense lawyers agreed with the prosecutor’s assessment and called for a ruling of acquittal.
In his final statement, Nahit Eren emphasized that their remarks should be considered within the scope of freedom of expression. "We highlighted the necessity of confronting the past to build a healthy future in Turkey. Our statement did not target any ethnic identity or institution," he said.
After a recess, the Diyarbakır High Criminal Court ruled that the alleged crime’s legal elements had not been met and acquitted all 11 former Bar Association leaders.
Background
On April 24, 2021, the Diyarbakır Bar Association published a statement titled Sharing the Pain of the Great Catastrophe on its social media accounts and website. Following this, a complaint was filed against the association’s executives, leading to a trial under Article 301, which carries a potential prison sentence of one to three years.
The indictment cited the statement as evidence, which included the following remarks:
"For centuries, our society lived together, learned from each other, and thrived in diversity. But on April 24, 1915, it awoke to a dark day... The Republic of Turkey, its government, and bureaucracy continue to ignore the shadow of this catastrophe that lingers over us every April 24. Instead, they anxiously track how this tragedy is being labeled, engaging in a battle against the truth... Today, our duty is to shed light on the darkness, to face the painful truth, and to bring even a small measure of peace to the souls of those who perished in the Great Catastrophe."
