Diyarbakır - Lawyer Adile Salman was acquitted in a trial in which she had been charged with “membership in an organization” on the basis of the testimony of cooperating witness Ümit Akbıyık. The eighth hearing of the case was held at the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court.
In addition to Adile Salman, her lawyers Servet Özen, Mehdi Özdemir and Gizem Miran were present in the courtroom. Lawyers who are members of the Amed branch of the Lawyers for Freedom Association (ÖHD), the Diyarbakır Bar Association and the Human Rights Association (İHD) also attended the hearing as observers.
At the hearing, which began with identity verification, Adile Salman was the first to speak. Rejecting the accusations, she requested acquittal.
Her lawyer Servet Özen stated that the witness statements were not sufficient to impose a sentence and that the statements had also been taken in an unlawful manner. Drawing attention to the fact that the prosecution concerned professional activities, Özen said: “Cooperating witnesses are giving statements based on unlawful evidence. Ümit Akbıyık went and gave a statement on his own. This person gave a statement over a period of 31 uninterrupted hours. We had included these details in the statements of our other colleagues as well. Statements taken in violation of procedure cannot in any way be considered concrete. The statements taken and the duration of the statement are contrary to the ordinary course of life. In a 112-page statement, a person carrying out legal practice is being accused. It is not possible for a lawyer to have their statement taken for 31 hours at this point. This lawyer both gave a statement and attended hearings at the courthouse at the same time. During this statement process, testimony was given about 665 people. We do not accept these accusations; the statements taken are not lawful and were obtained unlawfully. At this point, we request the acquittal of our client.”
Lawyers Mehdi Özdemir and Gizem Miran then took the floor and made similar statements, requesting their client’s acquittal. The lawyers said that legal practice was being criminalized through this prosecution and emphasized that their client should not be tried from that perspective.
After the defense statements, the court recessed and later announced its ruling. The court panel decided to acquit Adile Salman on the grounds that the elements of the alleged offense had not been established.
