Human rights lawyer and MLSA Co-Director Veysel Ok is set to receive the Max-Stadler-Medal for his significant work on freedom of expression in Turkey. The award will be presented to Ok during a ceremony on September 2, 2024, in Berlin
The event, co-organized by the Association of Liberal Lawyers e.V. and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, will feature speeches from former German Federal Minister of Justice Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger and journalist Deniz Yücel. Yücel, who was defended by Ok during his year-long detention in Turkey in 2017. To register for the event please click here.
The Max-Stadler-Medal is named after Dr. Max Josef Stadler, a liberal lawyer and long-serving member of the German Bundestag, who from 2009 to 2013 served as Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Justice, Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, who was the first recipient of the medal. The award honors individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the liberal rule of law, promoting justice and individual freedom.
Veysel Ok, who has represented numerous journalists, including Deniz Yücel, Ahmet Altan, Mehmet Altan and Şahin Alpay, is currently on trial at Istanbul’s 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance. He faces charges of "insulting judicial institutions" under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code for comments he made in a 2015 interview where he stated that Turkish courts lack independence.
Ok is a co-founder of and head of Legal Unit ay the Media and Law Studies Associaton (MLSA), which represents on a pro-bono basis 200 journalists, academics, and human rights defenders in free-speech cases.
