Turkey: Ongoing arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of Şebnem Korur Fincancı

The Observatory has been informed about the ongoing arbitrary detention and the indictment of Ms Şebnem Korur Fincancı, President of the Turkish Medical Association (Türk Tabipler Birliği – TTB) and Board Member of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (Türkiye İnsan Hakları Vakfı - TİHV-HRFT).

On October 27, 2022, after several hours of questioning, the Ankara magistrates’ Court ordered the pre-trial detention of Şebnem Korur Fincancı on accusations of “making propaganda for a terrorist organisation”. Ms Korur Fincancı was then transferred to Sincan F-type high security prison in Ankara, where she was still arbitrarily held at the time of publication of this Urgent Appeal.

The Observatory recalls that Ms Korur Fincancı was arbitrarily arrested in her home in Istanbul on October 26, 2022, in relation to a statement she made in the press on the occasion of a conference she gave in Germany on October 19, 2022, in her capacity of President of the Turkish Medical Association, about allegations of the use of chemical weapon by Turkey in Kurdistan regional federation of Iraq. On October 25, 2022, in reaction to this statement and following her return to Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave a press conference after the Committee of Ministers in which he stated that the authorities in Turkey will do whatever it takes to stop the TTB, and Şebnem Korur Fincancı particularly, mentioning judicial steps. Ms Korur Fincancı has been directly targeted by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ever since she was elected as chair of the Turkish Medical Association.

The Observatory further recalls that in a speech at a Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi - AKP) meeting in October 2020, the President of Turkey condemned TTB for electing “someone from the terrorist organisation” as their chair. Further, the leader of the ultra-nationalist Nationalist Movement Party (Milliyetci Hareket Partisi - MHP) has been keen on targeting Ms Korur Fincancı and the TTB.

The Observatory underlines that Şebnem Korur Fincancı’s arbitrary detention takes place as the authorities in Turkey are in the process of closing the Turkish Medical Association and replace her and the board of the association by a trustee.

The Observatory recalls that this is not the first time that Ms Korur Fincancı has been arrested for her legitimate human rights work. In June 2016, she was arbitrarily imprisoned for 10 days and prosecuted for “terrorist propaganda” for her participation in the “co-editor-in-chief ” campaign of Özgür Gündem (Free Agenda) to support the imprisoned editorial staff of the newspaper. She was acquitted by the court of first instance in July 2019 but the verdict was appealed by the prosecutor and was overturned by the 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Appeals Court in November 2020. The re-trial began on February 3, 2021 and the proceedings are ongoing. In another case that was based on her social media posts in relation to the Gezi Park protests, she was convicted of “insulting a public official” on February 16, 2021, and received a monetary fine of 7,800 TRY (approximately 870 Euros).

The Observatory is appalled by Şebnem Korur Fincancı’s indictment and ongoing arbitrary detention, which seem to be only aimed at punishing her for her legitimate human rights activities and the exercise of her right to freedom of expression.

The Observatory urges the authorities in Turkey to immediately and unconditionally release Şebnem Korur Fincancı and to put an end to the incessant judicial harassment and targeting she is subjected to.

The Observatory more generally calls on the authorities to ensure that all human rights organisations and human rights defenders in Turkey are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions, including judicial harassment.