Ongoing judicial harassment of Ms. Sebnem Korur Fincanci, Mr. Erol Önderoglu and Mr. Ahmet Nesin

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDHand the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received new informationand requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Turkey.

Newinformation:

TheObservatory has been informed by reliable sources about the ongoing judicialharassment of Ms. Şebnem KorurFincancı, President of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT), Mr. ErolÖnderoğlu, Turkey Representative of Reporters Without Borders (RWB), andMr. Ahmet Nesin, journalist.

According tothe information received, on March 22, 2017, following a ten minutes hearing,the Istanbul Caglayan 13th Heavy Penal Court postponed the hearing in the trialof the three human rights defenders[1]on charges of “provoking commission of anoffence”[2], “praising the offence and the offenders”[3] and “making propaganda of terrorist organisation throughmeans of press”[4] to June 8, 2017. The presidingjudge, Bulent Dalkiran, did not seat during the hearing.

The postponement was justified on the factthat Mr. Ahmet Nesin and his lawyer did not attend the hearing. A bench warrantwas issued against Mr. Nesin.

TheObservatory recalls that the three face possible custodial sentences for takingpart in a solidarity campaign in support of the right to freedom of the press,and more particularly the Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem[5].

The Observatory deplores the continuing judicial harassment against Ms.Şebnem Korur Fincancı, Mr. Erol Önderoğlu and Mr. Ahmet Nesin, which seems to merely aim at sanctioning theirhuman rights activities.

TheObservatorycalls upon the Turkish authorities to drop all the charges against them and, in the meantime, toensure that all judicial proceedings against them are carried out in fullcompliance with their right to a fair trial, as protected under internationallaw.

Backgroundinformation:

On June 20,2016, the 1st High Court of Peace in Istanbul ordered the detention of Ms. Şebnem Korur Fincancı, Mr. Ahmet Nesinand Mr. Erol Önderoğlu, pending an investigation into their alleged involvementin the propaganda of terrorism. The human rights defenders presented themselvesafter they had received arrest warrants, and were referred to the First HighCourt of Peace after testifying before the Prosecutor on Terror and OrganisedCrime at the Istanbul Court House in Çağlayan earlier that day, underaccusations of “provoking commission of offence”,“praising the offence and theoffenders” and “making terror propaganda”.

Ms. Şebnem Korur Fincancı, Mr. Ahmet Nesinand Mr. Erol Önderoğlu were questioned in relation to their participation inthe “Editor-in-chief on Duty” campaign launched in early May 2016 in solidaritywith the Özgür Gündem newspaper and to defend press freedom in Turkey[6].

Ms. Fincancıwas detained at Bakırköy Women Closed Prison, while Mr. Önderoğlu and Mr. Nesinwere held in Metris Prison in Istanbul.

On June 30, 2016, the Istanbul Caglayan 13th Heavy Penal Court orderedthe provisional release of Ms. Fincancı and Mr. Önderoğlu.

On July 1, 2016, the 14th Heavy Penal Court ordered theprovisional release of Mr. Ahmet Nesin.

On November8, 2016, the Istanbul Caglayan 13th Heavy Penal Court decided to pursue thecharges against Ms. Fincancı, Mr. Önderoğlu and Mr. Nesin and decided topostpone the hearing to January 11, 2017.

On January11, 2017, after a five minutes hearing, the Court postponed the trial to March,21, 2017.

Actionsrequested:

Please writeto the authorities in Turkey, urging them to:

i. Drop allthe charges against Ms. Şebnem Korur Fincancı, Mr. Erol Önderoğlu and Mr. AhmetNesin and, in the meantime, ensure that any judicial proceedings against themis carried out in full compliance with the defendants' right to a fair trial,as protected under international law;

ii. Guaranteein all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of all humanrights defenders in Turkey, including Ms. Şebnem Korur Fincancı, Mr. ErolÖnderoğlu and Mr. Ahmet Nesin;

iii. Put anend to all acts of harassment, including the judicial level, against all humanrights defenders in Turkey so that they are able tocarry out their work without hindrance or fear of reprisals;

iv. Put anend to the ongoing crackdown on civil society under the pretext of counteringterrorism and recognise the legitimate role of human rights defenders, in linewith Turkey's international obligations;

v. Complywith all the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on Human RightsDefendersadopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular itsArticles 1, 12.1 and 12.2;

vi. Ensure inall circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms inaccordance with international human rights standards and internationalinstruments ratified by Turkey.

Addresses:

· President of Turkey, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Fax: (+90 312) 52558 31, E-mail: contact@tccb.gov.tr

· Prime Minister of Turkey, Mr. Binali Yıldırım; Fax: +90 (312) 403 62 82

· Minister of Justice, Mr.Bekir Bozdağ, Fax: +90 (0312) 419 33 70; E-mail: info@adalet.gov.tr

· Minister of Interior,Mr. Süleyman Soylu; Fax: +90 (312) 425 61 30; Email: ozelkalem@icisleri.gov.tr

· Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. MevlütÇavuşoğlu, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Twitter account: @MFATurkey

· Ambassador Izzet Selim Yenel, Diplomatic Mission of Turkey to theEuropean Union in Brussels, Fax: + 32 2 511 04 50, Email: tr-delegation.eu@mfa.gov.tr

· H.E. Ambassador Mr. Ali Naci Koru, Permanent Mission of Turkey tothe United Nations in Geneva, Fax: +41 22 734 08 59; Email: mission.turkey@ties.itu.int

Please also write to the diplomatic mission or embassy ofTurkey in your respective country.

***

Paris-Geneva, March 24, 2017

Kindly informus of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory for theProtection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 byFIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of thisprogramme is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression againsthuman rights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu , the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanismimplemented by international civil society.

To contactthe Observatory, call the emergency line:

• E-mail: Appeals[at]fidh-omct.org
• Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80
• Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29

[1] Mr. İnanKızılkaya, Managing Editor of the newspaper ÖzgürGündem, is also facing the same charges.

[2] Article 214 of the Turkish PenalCode states that (1) Any person who openly provokes commission of an offense ispunished with imprisonment from six months to five year. (2) Any person whoarms a group against another group, or provokes to kill a person is punishedwith imprisonment from fifteen years to twenty-four years. (3) In case ofcommission of offenses which involves provocation, the offender is punishedfrom solicitation.

[3]Article 215 of the Turkish Penal Codestates that “Any person who openly praises an offense or the person committingthe offenses is punished with imprisonment up to two years”.

[4] Article 7/2 of the Anti Terror Law states that “(2) Those who assistmembers of organizations constituted in the manner described above or makepropaganda in connection with such organizations shall be punished withimprisonment of between 1 and 5 years and with a fine of between 50 million and100 million Turkish liras, even if their offence constitutes a separate crime”.

[5] Özgür Gündem (Turkish for“Free Agenda”) was an Istanbul-based daily newspaper in Turkish language.Launched in May 1992, the newspaper was known for its extensive reporting onthe Kurdish-Turkish conflict, and was therefore regularly accused of makingpropaganda for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Its editors and staff havefrequently been arrested and tried and multiple publication bans were issuedwithin Turkey. On August 16, 2016, the newspaper was “temporarily” shut downfollowing a court order, and some twenty journalists and editors were takeninto custody. While others were released, novelist and Özgür Gündemcolumnist Ms. Aslı Erdoğan, editor in-chief Mr. Zana Kaya and managing editorMr. İnan Kızılkaya remained imprisoned, facing charges of “membership of aterrorist organisation” and “undermining national unity”. Ms. Asli Erdogan andZana Kaya were released pending trial on December 29, 2016.

[6] Özgür Gündem started the“Editor-in-chief on Duty” campaign on May 3, 2016 to express solidarity anddefend press freedom in the face of a number of investigations faced by thenewspaper. A total of 49 prominent journalists have served as one-dayeditors-in-chief since the beginning of the campaign. Some 37 of them have beeninvestigated up to now. Yet, Ms. Fincancı, Mr. Önderoğlu and Mr. Nesin were thefirst persons to be arrested and detained in relation to the campaign.