On the 24th of January, hundreds of lawyers demonstrated in front of Turkish embassies and consulates all over Europe to protest against the attacks suffered by Turkish lawyers.
Around fifty lawyers were arrested in Turkey in November 2011. They were accused of complicity with their clients who are part of the KCK network (Turkish civil society) and are accused of terrorism. Thirty six lawyers are still in prison.
Three lawyer- and jurist-associations in Europe – European Democratic Lawyers, European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights, and the Human Rights Institute of European Lawyers- have organized this protest on the anniversary of the assassination on the 24t h of January 1977 of lawyers in Madrid.
The rallies of lawyers in their professional gowns took place in front of Turkish embassies and consulates in La Hague, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Rome, Milan, Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Madrid, Barcelona, Bern and Athens. Lawyers gathered in Athens were questioned by the police for some hours.
The three associations have addressed to the Turkish authorities, through its diplomatic representations, a demand to repeal the current anti-terrorist legislation, a legislation which is contrary to Human Rights and Civil Liberties. Moreover, the lawyers demanded the Turkish authorities to stop the attacks and intimidation of lawyers and to authorize the presence of legal observers in political trials.
27th of January 2012