- The MLSA Legal Unit has filed an appeal against a prison sentence of 6 years and 3 months handed down to human rights defender Nurcan Kaya.
- In its appeal, MLSA said the conviction was based on destroyed phone records and professional activities that did not constitute a crime.
- MLSA also challenged a judicial control measure imposing a travel ban on Kaya and requested that the restriction be lifted.
The Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) has appealed a 6-year, 3-month prison sentence handed down to human rights defender Nurcan Kaya, arguing that the conviction was based on 12-year-old phone records that were later destroyed, professional activities that did not constitute a crime, and a 100 Turkish lira donation to a lawful association. The appeal seeks to overturn the ruling and secure Kaya’s acquittal.
Kaya, a human rights defender and lawyer, was sentenced by the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court on a charge of “membership in an armed terrorist organization.”
In a petition submitted to the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court for transmission to the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice, Kaya’s lawyers, MLSA Co-Director Veysel Ok and MLSA Legal Unit lawyer Emine Özhasar, requested that the conviction be overturned and that Kaya be acquitted.
If that request is not granted, the appeal argues that the verdict should be quashed and the case returned to the lower court because it was based on unlawful and destroyed evidence, involved an incomplete examination of the facts, and lacked sufficient reasoning.
MLSA also requested the lifting of a travel ban imposed on Kaya as part of judicial control measures.
‘Phone records were destroyed’
The appeal states that the conviction was based on wiretap records from 2012 and 2013, a report by Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK), and an open-source review.
The defense statements said the phone records were destroyed in 2014 and argued that records whose originals no longer exist and whose accuracy cannot be verified cannot serve as the basis for a conviction.
The filing also noted that the regulation underpinning the wiretaps was later annulled by the Court of Cassation. It further argued that the surveillance was unlawful.
The petition emphasized that Kaya is a lawyer and noted that some of the intercepted conversations fell within the scope of attorney-client and legal professional activities.
‘All of the conversations were related to professional activities’
The petition said that all 15 phone conversations cited as grounds for the conviction took place within the scope of professional, academic and civil society activities.
According to the appeal, Kaya discussed academic matters with international law professor Turgut Tarhanlı, minority rights projects with former lawmaker Garo Paylan, and meetings and discussions on mother-tongue rights and education with businessman Osman Kavala.
The defense statements argued that none of the conversations contained evidence of organizational activity or any criminal conduct.
‘Professional activities were treated as crimes’
The petition emphasized that Kaya is a lawyer registered with the Diyarbakır Bar Association in southeastern Turkey, as well as a human rights defender, researcher and author. It said she has worked on minority rights, the right to education, language rights and efforts to combat discrimination.
The defense statements argued that the communications cited in the case were carried out as part of academic work, legal consultancy and civil society activities. The appeal said Kaya’s contacts with academics, lawyers and civil society representatives contained no criminal element and should not have been treated as evidence of wrongdoing.
‘A 100-lira donation cannot be evidence of a crime’
The appeal argues that a 100 Turkish lira donation Kaya made on Jan. 2, 2015, to the Rojava (Western) Aid and Solidarity Association cannot be considered evidence of membership in a terrorist organization.
The defense statements said it was contradictory for the lower court to refrain from convicting Kaya on a charge of financing terrorism while at the same time treating the same donation as evidence of organizational membership.
The petition noted that the donation was made to an association that was operating legally at the time and was carrying out humanitarian aid efforts for refugees during attacks by Islamic State militants.
The defense also recalled that Turkey’s Constitutional Court, in its ruling on Özlem Dalkıran, found that a donation to the same association was insufficient even to justify pretrial detention.
‘No concrete evidence links Kaya to HDK’
The appeal states that there is no final court ruling establishing that the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK) is a terrorist organization.
The defense statements argued that prosecutors failed to demonstrate any connection between Kaya and HDK. The petition said there was no evidence showing which HDK meetings Kaya allegedly attended, whether she held any position within the organization, or whether she participated in any HDK messaging or email groups.
The filing also said that digital materials seized during investigations targeting HDK contained no reference to Kaya. It argued that the indictment merely repeated assessments of HDK drawn from other case files rather than presenting evidence specific to Kaya.
The defense further noted that HDK continues to operate and that one of its co-spokespersons currently serves as a member of parliament and deputy parliamentary group chair in the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
Appeal filed against travel ban
Kaya’s lawyers also filed an objection seeking the removal of a judicial control measure banning her from traveling abroad. The petition was submitted to the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court for transmission to the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court.
The filing said Kaya had been subject to a series of judicial control measures during the proceedings, including house arrest, a requirement to report to authorities once a week, and a travel ban. While the reporting requirement was later lifted, the ban on foreign travel remains in place.
The defense statements emphasized that Kaya is a lawyer, journalist and human rights defender whose work regularly involves international engagement. They argued that the travel restriction has hindered her professional and civil society activities.
According to the petition, Kaya was invited to participate in a panel organized by the European Endowment for Democracy in Brussels, an event hosted by the London-based Democratic Progress Institute, and meetings in Berlin that she was scheduled to attend on behalf of the Diyarbakır Bar Association. She was unable to participate because of the travel ban.
The defense also noted that the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court lifted the travel ban imposed on Pınar Aydınlar, who was prosecuted in the same HDK investigation and received the same sentence. It argued that the ruling should be treated as a precedent in Kaya’s case as well.
What happened?
At a hearing on April 30, the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court sentenced Nurcan Kaya to 6 years and 3 months in prison on a charge of “membership in an armed terrorist organization.”
The court also ruled that there was no need to impose a separate sentence on a charge of violating Turkey’s Law on the Prevention of the Financing of Terrorism.
