DENİZ TEKİN
The trial of lawyer Süleyman Şahin, who is facing charges of "membership in a terrorist organization" due to his professional activities, has been postponed to allow for the collection of additional witness testimony and the completion of the case file. The court also denied a request to lift Şahin’s travel ban.
The third hearing of the case was held at Diyarbakır’s 5th High Criminal Court, where Şahin is being tried based on the statements of a cooperating witness and his work as a defense lawyer. Şahin did not attend the hearing, but his defense team, including lawyers Baver Mızrak, Serdar Özer, and Gulan Çağın Kaleli, were present. Observers from the Diyarbakır Bar Association, the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD), and international legal group Défense Sans Frontières, represented by Françoise Cotta and Christine Martineau, were also in attendance.
The prosecution requested that the court abandon its efforts to take testimony from Arjin Onur, a witness who could not be located. In response, Şahin’s defense reiterated that cooperating witness Ümit Akbıyık had given statements to police without a lawyer present. They requested that lawyer A.B., who was allegedly involved in Akbıyık’s statement, be called as a witness, along with a renewed request to re-evaluate previously denied motions. They also asked for additional time to ensure the availability of witness Edip Hüseyinoğlu at the next hearing.
The court decided to forgo the testimony of Arjin Onur, granted time for the defense to present their witness, and upheld Şahin’s travel ban. The next hearing is scheduled for December 17.
Case background
The case against Süleyman Şahin stems from an investigation launched based on testimony from cooperating witness Ümit Akbıyık. The investigation led to arrest warrants for 216 people, with raids across 20 provinces on April 25, 2023, resulting in the detention of approximately 200 individuals, including journalists, lawyers, politicians, artists, and civil society members. Among those arrested were 19 lawyers registered with the Diyarbakır Bar, 3 from the Mardin Bar, 2 from the Batman Bar, and 1 from the Şanlıurfa Bar. Searches were conducted at their homes and offices, where authorities seized computers, phones, and case files.
While 21 lawyers, including Şahin, were released with travel bans, 4 were initially detained on charges of "membership in a terrorist organization." After 20 days in custody, these four lawyers were released following an appeal.
At the second hearing on May 21, 2024, witness Ümit Akbıyık testified that his lawyer had not been present during the entirety of his 32-hour police interrogation. Lawyer Baver Mızrak noted that A.B., who was alleged to have accompanied Akbıyık during his statement at the Diyarbakır Police Department between January 10-12, 2023, had attended a separate trial at Diyarbakır’s 11th High Criminal Court on January 11 and visited a client in prison on the same day. The court had previously rejected the defense's request to hear A.B. as a witness.
