Muharrem Erbey released after 1’570 days in pre-trial detention

On April 12, 2014,the Diyarbakir Heavy Penal Court No. 2 decided to release Mr. Muharrem Erbey,human rights lawyer, Vice-President of the Human Rights Association (İHD),former President of the İHD's branch office in Diyarbakır and recipient of theLudovic-Trarieux International Human Rights Prize for 2012, for “lack ofevidence”. Mr. Erbey has been suffering protracted pre-trial detention for more than fouryears and is being prosecuted with 174 other Kurdish figures.

During thispreliminary hearing, the provisional release of 48 of the accused wasdiscussed. 38 were released pursuant to the five-year limit of detention andten, including Mr. Erbey, were released for lack of evidence. However, chargesremain pending against them. The trial was postponed until July 7, 2014. Todate, 43 remained in jail. This move follows the closure of the DiyarbakirSpecial Heavy Penal Court No. 6, which had been in charge of the trial sinceOctober 2010, pursuant to the reform of the Turkish Penal Procedure Code thatordered the closure of all specialised heavy penal courts. Accordingly, thecase was transferred to the Diyarbakir Heavy Penal Court No. 2.

“We welcome the decision of the court to releaseMr. Muharrem Erbey after more than 4 years in pre-trial detention. However, heshould never have been detained in the first place”, FIDH PresidentKarim Lahidji said. “His trial is hanging over his head like a sword ofDamocles. All charges against Mr. Erbey should be dropped. And the Turkishauthorities should recognise the legitimacy of human rights work, which shouldnever be labelled as terrorism offences”, he further urged.

“Although we are relieved that Mr. Muharrem Erbey is now out of jail, we are concerned about the persistence of charges againsthim. His prosecution represents a gross miscarriage of justiceand is yet another blow to the credibility of Turkey's judicial system, whichcontinues to be used as a weapon to repress legitimate human rights activities”, OMCT Secretary GeneralGerald Staberock said. “The Turkish authorities should release all human rights activists currentlydetained and drop all the charges against them”, he further urged.

The facts andcircumstances of Mr. Erbey’s arrest, as well as a thorough examination of thecharges and evidence produced against him, clearly suggested that hisprosecution was carried out in retaliation for his activities as a high-profilehuman rights lawyer. The judicial process has been marred by significantirregularities and the fundamental rights of the accused have been repeatedlyviolated. On December 24, 2009, Mr. Muharrem Erbeywas arrested as part of mass counter-terrorism operationsthatin fact have little to do with countering terrorism, but rather have been usedas a means of criminalising peaceful dissent and Kurdish political and culturalexpression. His arrest was based on his allegedmembership to the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), an organisation said to bethe “urban branch” of the armed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). He was chargedwith “being a member of an illegal organisation”,pursuant to Article 314 of the Turkish Criminal Code. Mr. Erbey is facing a minimumsentence of 7,5 to 15 years in prison should he be found guilty.

The Observatory urgesthe authorities of Turkey to guarantee Mr. Erbey'sright to a fair trial and to refrain from further harassing humanrights defenders, and to ensure they are able to carry out their workwithout hindrance or fear of reprisals. It also calls on the Turkishauthorities to conform to the United Nations Declaration on Human RightsDefenders, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other internationaland European human rights instruments ratified by Turkey.