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On 1 April 2024, Media and Regulation Research Affiliation (MLSA is a human rights group dedicated to defending freedom of expression, press freedom, the fitting to assemble and protest, and entry to data in Turkey. It serves as a significant platform the place journalism and authorized experience merge to safeguard these freedoms, significantly for journalists, attorneys, and human rights defenders dealing with rising challenges). SEMRA PELEK wrote about Mine Özerden, a human rights defender now detained for 700 days. The detailed assertion if woth studying in full:
From Mine Özerden’s standpoint, the Gezi Trial started with an unsubstantiated prison grievance. Regardless of efforts, no informant was recognized. Tax inspectors investigated the allegations however couldn’t verify them. The courtroom dominated the telephone faucets used as proof have been unlawful. Nonetheless, Özerden was sentenced to 18 years and has been in jail for almost two years.
“I’ve mentioned this repeatedly, and I’ll say it once more: I nonetheless can’t comprehend why I’m right here, and there hasn’t been anybody who might logically clarify it to me but.”
With these phrases, Mine Özerden started her protection in the course of the session of the Gezi Trial held on the Istanbul thirteenth Heavy Penal Courtroom on October 8, 2021. She posed the identical query throughout her protection on the session held on January 17, 2022. Özerden has been asking the identical query at each listening to for the reason that preliminary session of the Gezi Trial on June 25, 2019. Nevertheless, within the years which have handed, she has acquired no reply to her query all through your complete authorized course of.
Mine Özerden’s lawyer requested a proof from the prosecutor by way of the courtroom concerning this matter. Nevertheless, the courtroom rejected the request: “The request for a press release from the Public Prosecutor concerning which acts and crimes are being attributed to the defendant Mine Özerden by the protection lawyer has been rejected…”
The courtroom failed to supply any justification or additional clarification of the rejection. Nevertheless, in line with the Code of Legal Process, each defendant has the fitting to successfully current their protection, and the fitting to “be told.” Because of this prosecutors and courts are obligated to tell the defendant of the accusations towards them to make sure a good trial. The legal guidelines clearly state this proper, nevertheless, Mine Özerden was not granted this proper all through your complete trial, and the judiciary system didn’t present any logical rationalization for this.
Let’s ask a query of our personal right here: Is there no reply to Ozerden’s query within the 657-page indictment written by the prosecution, which led to Osman Kavala’s aggravated life sentence and the 18-year sentences that Mine Özerden, Çiğdem Mater, Tayfun Kahraman, and Can Atalay have been given within the Gezi Trials? They’re presently convicted of great expenses corresponding to “trying to overthrow the Republic of Turkey by drive and violence” and “aiding this try,” which implies the upper Courtroom of Cassation additionally signed off on the choice. Within the doc of approval launched by the Courtroom of Cassation, is there any reply to the aforementioned query? No, there isn’t!
Scrutinizing the Gezi Trial recordsdata, one query stays: Why is Mine Özerden in jail?
And you’ll’t discover the reply to that query. After poring over the recordsdata line by line, one can’t assist however be reminded of Kafka’s novel, The Trial. A lot in order that you would substitute the protagonist Josef Ok.’s identify with Mine Özerden’s: “Anyone should have made a false accusation towards Mine Özerden, for she was arrested one morning with out having completed something improper.”
That is precisely how the Gezi Trial, which right now stands like a specter towards the liberty of expression and meeting not solely of the defendants however of the entire society, started for Mine Özerden.
Let’s begin from the start: On September 26, 2013, a “prison grievance” was despatched through e-mail to the Istanbul Communication Electronics Department Directorate. In response to the indictment, the particular person, who didn’t present their identify in “prison grievance quantity 11167,” claimed to have “vital data concerning the Gezi protests” and alleged that “earlier than the protests started in Taksim, Mine Özerden opened financial institution accounts for a number of people underneath the path of Osman Kavala from the Open Society Basis.” In response to the informant’s declare, the cash collected in these accounts was supposed to buy “gasoline masks, bandages, and goggles,” which might then be “distributed to protesters.”
Within the hundreds of pages of the Gezi Trial file, that is the only allegation regarding Mine Özerden.
Following up on this allegation requires due diligence in looking for the details. Not like Kafka’s novel, Özerden’s experiences aren’t allegorical however actual; she has been held in Bakırköy Girls’s Jail for almost two years as a result of this unsubstantiated prison grievance.
Reality one: Informant unidentified, allegation unsubstantiated
Within the indictment, the prosecutor – after quoting the informant’s declare in citation marks and daring black letters – instantly signifies within the subsequent sentence that they “couldn’t find the informant”: “Upon the instruction of our Republic Prosecutor’s Workplace, an investigation was carried out into the IP tackle to acquire an in depth assertion from the informant, nevertheless, no identification was made.”
In different phrases, the informant couldn’t be discovered. So, have been the financial institution accounts alleged by the informant opened?
No!
That, in truth, is the next sentence, the place the prosecutor affords his admission that the informant couldn’t be discovered. Within the indictment, Istanbul Basis’s 1st Regional Directorate’s investigation of the accounts of the Open Society Basis, finally making ready a report on this inquiry, however the report clearly said that “no willpower might be made concerning these allegations.”
In different phrases, the declare of an unidentified informant couldn’t be substantiated.
On April 22, 2022 Mine Özerden’s lawyer submitted Tax paperwork, which proved that the informant’s declare was false to the file.
The courtroom dismissed the Tax Inspectorate report and didn’t contemplate it as proof.
Reality Two: No financial institution accounts opened; no buy was made
Sometimes (in any rule-of-law state), when an informant can’t be discovered and an unsubstantiated prison grievance is concerned, the case is closed with a verdict of non-prosecution.
Furthermore, in line with the established jurisprudence of the Courtroom of Cassation, evaluating a purely unsubstantiated grievance by itself can be illegal. Thus, this jurisprudence additionally warranted closing the case at this stage. The regulation is evident: you can not prosecute anybody with a non-existent crime and an unsubstantiated allegation.
Nevertheless, as an alternative of closing the file at this level, the prosecutor opened one other investigation utterly unrelated to the Gezi inquiry. Mine Özerden was by the way wiretapped throughout the scope of this investigation. It wasn’t till a lot later, when the Gezi Trial indictment was ready, that the very fact Özerden had been coincidentally wiretapped on this investigation emerged. When her lawyer formally questioned this, it was revealed that Özerden had by no means been a suspect on this investigation. Moreover, there was no wiretap order issued towards her on this investigation. Her lawyer had requested wiretap orders from the courtroom, neither the police nor the prosecution had submitted these orders to the file.
In considered one of these coincidental wiretaps included within the Gezi Trial indictment regardless of having no relevance to the Gezi investigation, Mine Özerden had a dialog with Osman Kavala on Might 30, 2013. On this dialog, Mine Özerden talked about to Osman Kavala that she had acquired “some affords.” Somebody advised, “Let’s purchase gasoline masks and distribute them to the youth.” The dialog continued with discussions on how this might be completed, corresponding to “perhaps opening a checking account.” It was nothing greater than an alternate of concepts, with the dialog ending with the suggestion, “One of many volunteers might in all probability do this.”
The declare of the unidentified informant was based mostly on this dialog. Özerden, who was coincidentally wiretapped in an investigation, the place she was not a suspect, was accused on the idea of this wiretap became a prison grievance. Özerden’s lawyer requested the total decision of this wiretap. Nevertheless, neither the entire resolutions of wiretaps nor the wiretap recordings have been discovered by the prosecution and have been by no means submitted to the file.
The dialog between Mine Özerden and Osman Kavala remained on the degree of concepts as a result of the content material of the dialog was not substantiated in the course of the investigation and trial course of. No checking account was discovered to have been opened. One thing that doesn’t exist can’t be discovered within the first place.
There isn’t any proof within the file that gasoline masks, bandages, or goggles have been bought. Not a single bill exists, neither is there any proof wherever that this stuff have been discovered.
So, suppose even one piece of proof existed within the file – for instance, if a checking account had been opened or if an bill for goggles had been discovered – what would occur? Opening a checking account and shopping for gasoline masks, bandages, or goggles is just not a criminal offense underneath any regulation. Due to this fact, Özerden’s lawyer introduced goggles, gasoline masks, and bandages to the trial and requested the panel, “Is buying this stuff a criminal offense?”
Reality Three: No Press Statements or Conferences have been Discovered to Represent a Crime or Incitement to Commit a Crime
Regardless of the shortage of concrete proof, the indictment directed the accusation of “aiding an try to overthrow the Authorities of the Republic of Turkey by drive and violence” towards Mine Özerden. To strengthen such a critical accusation, the prosecutor highlighted Özerden’s voluntary coordination of the Taksim Platform and her continued membership within the board of administrators of Anadolu Kültür, the place she had labored years in the past.
The Taksim Platform was established as a peaceable dialogue platform, holding weekly alternate of concepts conferences, and organizing artwork occasions. Though the actions of the platform fell throughout the scope of freedom of meeting and expression, it was criminalized within the indictment, but no crime related to the platform could be discovered.
Not a single press assertion by the platform was included within the indictment. There was not any piece of proof concerning which press assertion or assembly of the platform, on which date, would represent a criminal offense in line with the regulation. There was additionally no proof that any put up or assertion launched by the Taksim Platform might represent a criminal offense or incitement to violence within the indictment or the file.
The rationale behind the institution of the Taksim Platform and all updates, statements and press releases ever launched by the platform remains to be accessible right now on the web site taksimplatformu.com. So, if there had been even the slightest proof that Taksim Platform was inciting violence, it might be simple for the prosecution to search out and embody within the indictment.
Furthermore, the accusations towards Özerden based mostly on her membership within the board of administrators of Anadolu Kültür have been already refuted explicitly by the Tax Inspectorate report.
Reality 4: Özerden was not in Istanbul in the course of the Gezi protests.
It will get even stranger from right here. Within the indictment, Özerden is accused of organizing conferences of the Taksim Platform in Istanbul in the course of the Gezi protests, attending the platform’s conferences, and even collaborating in violent actions in Gezi Park.
However the issue right here is that this: Mine Özerden was not in Istanbul in the course of the Gezi protests.
The Gezi protests started on Might 31, 2013. Nevertheless, Özerden was working at a language college in Fethiye from June 1 to July 31, 2013. Moreover, not a single video, {photograph}, or technical surveillance recorded by the police indicating Özerden’s presence in Istanbul throughout that interval has been included within the case file.
Nevertheless, official Social Safety Establishment (SGK) information proving Özerden’s presence in Fethiye throughout that interval have been submitted to the courtroom. However neither the prosecutor in the course of the investigation course of nor the Istanbul thirteenth Heavy Penal Courtroom in the course of the trial took this into consideration. The Courtroom of Cassation third Legal Chamber, which upheld the 18-year jail sentence, additionally didn’t. .
Even when it have been the alternative, if Mine Özerden have been in Istanbul throughout that point, it nonetheless wouldn’t show something. Being in Istanbul in the course of the Gezi protests, organizing a gathering, or attending one is just not a criminal offense. Quite the opposite, the fitting to meeting and freedom of expression are protected by the Structure.
Reality 5: Wiretapping is Unlawful
So, what was written about Mine Özerden on all these pages within the indictment whenthere was no concrete proof of a criminal offense towards her?
The indictment merely comprises pages of telephone conversations between Özerden and her pals! These conversations delve into private issues, discussing, for example, the exhaustion of life and the fantastic thing about getting away from some stressors of life. In a single dialog, for example, Mine Özerden advises a buddy to attend a convention in Istanbul the place world-renowned philosophers Slavoj Žižek and Alain Badiou are audio system. The convention, titled ‘Globalization and the New Left,’ was organized by Bakırköy Municipality and MonoKL publications. Nevertheless, this recommendation was included within the indictment as if it have been a criminal offense.
Equally, Özerden’s response of “benefit from the stunning climate, how pretty” to a buddy saying “the climate was even higher two or three days in the past” can be included within the indictment as a part of these informal conversations. Not one of the telephone faucets comprise any reference to the group of the Gezi protests. As an alternative, they muddle the file. Furthermore, these wiretaps are unlawful!
The Istanbul thirteenth Excessive Legal Courtroom, which dealt with the case, decided that the wiretaps have been unlawful. In its determination dated February 18, 2020, acquitting 16 defendants within the Gezi trial, together with Osman Kavala, Mücella Yapıcı, Can Atalay, Yiğit Aksakoğlu, Tayfun Kahraman, Çiğdem Mater, Mine Özerden, Yiğit Ekmekçi, and Ali Hakan Altınay, the courtroom made the next authorized evaluation:
“We now have 53 wiretap orders in our file. It’s understood that the primary wiretap order was issued for the offense of ‘forming and main a prison group,’ not for the offense of ‘crimes towards the federal government.’ Later, it was noticed that Article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code (crimes towards the federal government) was added to the requests and selections for extending the wiretapping. Nevertheless, Article 312 was not among the many crimes topic to authorized wiretapping as listed in Article 135/8 of the Legal Process Code at the moment. There isn’t any wiretap order issued after that date. Due to this fact, it’s accepted that the wiretap recordings are in violation of the regulation and are unlawful proof, contemplating the established precedents of the Courtroom of Cassation and the precept that ‘the fruit of the toxic tree can be toxic.’ Therefore, the wiretaps included within the indictment are thought-about as prohibited proof.”
In different phrases, all telephone conversations used as proof towards Mine Özerden, together with different defendants, have been the fruits of the toxic tree. In abstract, the true crime was the wiretapping of telephones.
However as if that weren’t sufficient, a brand new time period referred to as ‘revaluation’ was coined to justify the inclusion of wiretap recordings within the indictment. The indictment said that “the revaluation of all proof regarding the investigation, particularly the wiretaps, was ordered.” Nevertheless, there isn’t any process referred to as ‘revaluation’ within the Code of Legal Process. Mine Özerden asks: “Isn’t this brazenly insulting to make use of the phrase ‘revaluation’?”
They Have been Convicted with the “Toxic Fruit of the Toxic Tree”
In the end, the acquittal verdicts have been overturned. Regardless of no further proof being introduced to substantiate the allegations, the convictions handed down by the Istanbul thirteenth Excessive Legal Courtroom on April 25, 2022, towards Osman Kavala, Can Atalay, Çiğdem Mater, Mine Özerden, and Tayfun Kahraman have been upheld by the Courtroom of Cassation’s third Legal Chamber.
Osman Kavala, who was sentenced to an aggravated life sentence for the allegation of “trying to overthrow the Authorities of the Republic of Turkey,” has been in jail for over six years. Can Atalay, Çiğdem Mater, Mine Özerden, and Tayfun Kahraman, who have been every sentenced to 18 years in jail for “aiding this try,” have been disadvantaged of their freedom for 700 days.
Responding to our questions from jail, Mine Özerden made the next remark concerning your complete authorized course of:
“Not solely do the establishments and decision-makers of the nation I’m a citizen of fail to guard our rights, however in addition they more and more violate our basic, constitutional, and authorized rights increasingly on a regular basis. For almost two years, we’ve got been disadvantaged of our bodily freedom with out motive, proof, or fact…
I discover myself involuntarily caught in a mindless quarrel of irrationality and illogic. We’re repeatedly instrumentalized by totally different political segments with varied affiliations. My want is for folks from all walks of life to face up towards injustice and for a collective will demanding primary human rights to emerge.”
Mine Özerden nonetheless awaits a logical rationalization as to why she is being tried, why she is being punished, and why she has been held at Bakırköy Girls’s Jail for years.
As an alternative of explaining, the judiciary merely extends to her the toxic fruit of a toxic tree.
https://www.mlsaturkey.com/en/mine-oezerden-detained-700-days-on-unsubstantiated-allegations-from-unidentified-informant
This entry was posted on April 6, 2024 at 17:34 and is filed underneath Human Rights Defenders.
Tags: truthful trial, Gezi Park protests, Human Rights Defenders, unlawful detention, Regulation, Media and Regulation Research Affiliation (MLSA), Mine Özerden, information, Osman Kavala, politics, SEMRA PELEK, Turkey, girl human rights defender
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