A mass trial on Friday started in Türkiye for 189 people following the protests against the detention and arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu last month.
The defendants, mainly students, journalists and lawyers, are facing charges involving participation in illegal rallies, failing to disperse despite police warnings, carrying weapons, and covering their faces for identity hiding and incitement to commit a crime.
In one of the cases, 99 individuals, including eight journalists and four lawyers, are facing charges of participating in an “unauthorized demonstration” while ignoring police orders to disperse. Speaking on their behalf, lawyer Veysel Ok unsuccessfully urged their acquittal on the grounds that they were simply covering the protest.
Potential penalties range from six months to four years for participation in illegal rallies and failing to disperse despite police warnings, and up to five years for incitement to commit a crime.
In early April, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced the start of a public lawsuit for the participation in the protests against 819 people, with 278 being under arrest.
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the mass and rushed scale of the trials that lack evidence of criminal wrongdoing, “exemplify how Türkiye’s restrictions on the right to assembly are arbitrary and incompatible with a democratic society.”
HRW reviewed nine indictments involving hundreds of people charged with protest-related offenses, finding that the authorities deemed protests unauthorized following a ban on all assemblies from March 19 to 26 in Istanbul. According to the NGO, despite the ban, demonstrations proceeded in a peaceful manner.
The group also reported that the European Court of Human Rights issued over 70 judgments in 15 years, finding the prosecution of protesters a violation of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly. In one recent judgment, the court also found the pre-trial custody of activist Kamuran Yüksek violated his right to liberty and freedom of expression.
Indeed, the court’s landmark ruling Kudrevičius v Lithuania affirmed that “the absence of prior authorization and the ensuing ‘unlawfulness’ of the action do not give carte blanche to the authorities; they are still restricted by the proportionality requirement of Article 11.” The European Parliament’s Türkiye rapporteur, Nacho Sanchez Amor, also urged the EU to ensure Türkiye’s compliance with international and regional human rights standards in its accession negotiations.
The protests were sparked by the arrest of Ekrem İmamoğlu, Mayor of Istanbul and Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s biggest rival for the Presidential office. The mayor’s arrest in March on corruption charges is largely seen as politically motivated.
