Eylem Sonbahar
Police officers testifying as witnesses in the trial of lawyers from the Progressive Lawyers’ Association (ÇHD) claimed they could not remember key details of the case, in which the defendants were detained while attempting to release wish lanterns to draw attention to their imprisoned colleagues on hunger strike. One officer argued that the case had led to police being targeted on social media, prompting the judge to intervene, stating, “That is not the subject of this case.”
The 13th hearing of the trial was held at Istanbul’s 46th Criminal Court of First Instance. The case involves seven lawyers—Gökmen Yeşil, Ayşegül Çağatay, Barzan Demirhan, Canan Gözcü, Oğuzhan Topalkara, Seda Şaraldı, and Yaprak Türkmen—who were detained in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district on Feb. 22, 2019. They face charges of "participating in an unlawful assembly and failing to disperse despite warnings" and "resisting law enforcement."
Several police officers, listed as witnesses in the incident report, were questioned during the hearing.
‘I don’t remember, but what's in the report is correct’
The first officer called to testify stated that he could not recall details of the incident but confirmed that “aside from what is written in the report, there was no active resistance or threats directed at me.”
Another officer, who was part of the initial police response team, said, “A backup unit was later called in. The defendants engaged in passive resistance, such as sitting down and refusing to move. As a result, we had to use force.”
A third officer, however, could not remember whether he was part of the initial or backup team. Two other officers also claimed to have no memory of the event but insisted the contents of the official report were accurate.
Judge dismisses claim that police were ‘targeted’ on social media
As the judge dismissed the officers from the courtroom, one of them commented that police had been "targeted on social media" because of the case. The judge interrupted, stating, “That is not the subject of this case.”
After the officers' testimony, defense lawyers argued that the statements lacked concrete evidence. The court ordered that two more police officers be summoned to testify and postponed the trial to Sept. 4.
Background
The case dates back to a protest on Feb. 22, 2019, when ÇHD members attempted to release wish lanterns in Beşiktaş to highlight the hunger strike of several imprisoned colleagues. The hunger strike began on Jan. 24, the Day of the Endangered Lawyer, with detained lawyers Selçuk Kozağaçlı, Aycan Çiçek, Aytaç Ünsal, Behiç Aşçı, and Engin Gökoğlu protesting alleged legal irregularities in their trials.
As the group of lawyers gathered near the Kartal statue in Beşiktaş and prepared to release the lanterns at İskele Square, police intervened, detaining them with force.
ÇHD later issued a statement claiming that the detained lawyers had been subjected to mistreatment, saying:
"Our branch president and our member colleagues are being held at the Beşiktaş District Police Department. We call on all our colleagues to stand in solidarity."
The lawyers were taken to Istanbul’s Çağlayan Courthouse, where they were referred directly to a Criminal Judgeship of Peace without giving statements to the prosecutor. The judge released them under judicial control without taking their testimonies.
