Turkey: Sentencing of human rights defender Fırat Akdeniz

The Observatory has been informed about the sentencing of Mr. Fırat Akdeniz, member of the Human Rights Association (İnsan Hakları Derneği – İHD), Diyarbakır Branch, as well as member of the Education and Science Workers’ Union. Mr. Akdeniz is a prominent human rights defender advocating to stop, investigate, prevent and seek justice for enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions in Turkey.

On March 23, 2022, Fırat Akdeniz appeared before the Diyarbakır 11th Heavy Penal Court for the final hearing in his case. He was sentenced to six years and three months of imprisonment on the charge of “membership to an illegal armed organisation” (Article 314/2 of the Criminal Code of Turkey). Mr. Akdeniz’s lawyers will appeal this decision. Fırat Akdeniz has been imposed a travel ban that will be in force until the judgement is final.

Mr. Akdeniz was arbitrarily arrested on May 24, 2021, following a search conducted at his house on the same day, in which an alleged banned publication was seized. On May 26, 2021, the Diyarbakır 4th Peace Criminal Judgeship ordered his pre-trial detention on the charge of “membership to an illegal armed organisation”. On June 17, 2021, the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office formally indicted Mr. Akdeniz. The indictment is based on Mr. Akdeniz’s participation in 17 different public gatherings from October 2019 to December 2020. These public gatherings span from a World Peace Day, a Kurdish language festival and demonstrations against gender-based violence and arbitrary detentions of attorneys and arbitrary removals of local elected officials. The Public Prosecutor’s Office alleges that those public gatherings praised and defended the activities and principles of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

On September 3, 2021, during the first hearing in Mr. Akdeniz’s case before the Diyarbakır 11th Heavy Penal Court, an anonymous witness statement was taken to corroborate the above-mentioned allegations. On September 8, 2021, following the second hearing, Mr. Akdeniz was provisionally released pending the final verdict in his case.

The Observatory expresses its utmost concern over the judicial harassment of Fırat Akdeniz and highlights that his targeting is part of a broader trend of criminalisation of human rights defenders in Turkey, including İHD members. The organisation and its members have been subjected to judicial harassment and intimidations by the authorities for years because of their peaceful human rights activities and exercise of freedom of expression and association, including the sentencing of Ms. Eren Keskin, Co-Chairperson of İHD, the threats and acts of stigmatisation against the organisation, as well as the three criminal proceedings İHD’s Co-Chairperson Mr. Öztürk Türkdoğan is facing.

The Observatory strongly condemns the sentencing of Fırat Akdeniz and urges the authorities of Turkey to quash his conviction and put an end to any act of harassment, including at the judicial level, against him as well as against all human rights defenders in Turkey.