Situation in Turkey
The extraordinary situation of violation of the independence of the judiciary in Turkey has induced all four European Associations of Judges to join together in their activities:
• The Association of European Administrative Judges (AEAJ),
• The European Association of Judges (EAJ),
• Judges for Judges and
• “Magistrats Européens pour la Démocratie et les Libertés” (MEDEL)
And form a Platform: Platform for an Independent Judiciary in Turkey.
Since its creation, the Platform has been working together to promote the independence of the Judiciary in Turkey and the right to freedom and a fair trial to all the Judges and Prosecutors detained.
Here we gather the main documents issued by the Platform:
Platform Letter Council Europe - 1-8-2016-4SG1.89 MB
Platform Letter Council Europe - 1-8-2016-4PACE1.9 MB
Situation of Turkish Judiciary - Platform Report417.14 KB
Turkey Platform Conclusions163.96 KB
Statement on the eve of the EU-Turkey leaders’ meeting in Varna114.84 KB
70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its observation in Turkey160.88 KB
Criminal conviction of Mr Murat Arslan117.89 KB
Links to the other member association webpages of the Platform:
The Association of European Administrative Judges (AEAJ)
The European Association of Judges (EAJ), Regional Group of the International Association of Judges (IAJ)
You can find here the english translation of an article about the verdict against Murat Arslan, written by Ingrid Heilein, the German colleague who has been observing as MEDEL representative the trial of Murat Arslan.
The article was originally published in December 2019 in the German magazine "Betrifft Justiz". Read it below.
The Italian television RAI made a special report about Murat Arslan, with the participation of Gualtiero Michelini, former President of MEDEL, from Magistratura Democratica.
The Platform for an Independent Judiciary in Turkey has published today a letter with an appeal to the respect of basic human rights in what regards the detention of Judges and Prosecutors in Turkey, and focusing on the dramatic case of judge Sultani Temel, who has been arrested (followed by pre-trial detention) since 16 January 2017 (with exception for the period of 5 October 2017 to 6 June 2018), together with her five-year-old daughter.
As a way of reaffirming our solidarity, our Polish member association, Iustitia, has made a video with images of detentions in Turkish courts after the coup in Turkey and with judges and prosecutors from all over Europe, reading some of the letters.
Marking the date of Giovanni Falcone’s assassination by the Mafia in 1992, MEDEL pronounced the 23rd of May as the alert day for the independence of justice in Europe. On this date, we are invited to reflect on the need for an independent and effective justice all over Europe and its importance for the safeguard of European citizens’ fundamental rights and freedoms.
Very dark signs have arisen all over Europe in recent years, inside and outside the European Union. However, in no place as in Turkey did we witness such an orchestrated and premeditated campaign to completely destroy the independence of the Judiciary and the Rule of Law. Since the attempted Coup d’État of July 15th, 2016, all Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers who had constantly struggled for an independent justice have been persecuted, arrested, dismissed and have seen their property seized without any previous due process and with absolutely no guarantees of defense.
Euronews, the European news network who also broadcasts in Turkish language, has just released news about MEDEL's ebook of the letters in Turkish.
Here is the link:
The president of the Portuguese Judges Association published an article about Murat Arslan in one of the main newspapers in Portugal, which can be found in THIS LINK:
Here is the translation in English.
Murat Arslan was arrested on 19 October 2016. He is in a prison cell in Sincan, Ankara, with 16 other detainees: 8 beds and the floor to sleep, a carpet to pray, one shower, one washbasin and two toilets. 20 liters of water a day to wash clothes and body, half an hour a week for visits, though a thick dirty glass, half an hour a month to hug the wife Sevilay and the sons, Burak Emre and Yigit Eren, 16 and 13 years old, a phone call every two weeks, an hour a month to play football, and a weekly order of books and canteen food.
Yesterday, Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize Winner Murat Arslan, President of the Independent Turkish Judges Association YARSAV, has been convicted under charges of being member of an armed terrorist organization (namely of being active member of FETÖ/PDY) and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.
Mr Murat Arslan is a Turkish judge and president of the Turkish Association of Judges and Prosecutors (YARSAV). He has been arrested in October 2016 and remains since then in (pre-trial) detention.
He was awarded in October 2017 the Václav-Havel Human Rights prize by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
Today, January 18th, 2019, was held the last session of the trial against Murat Arslan, unlawfully accused and persecuted by the Turkish authorities and arrested since October 19th, 2016.
In today’s session, the court issued the decision, sentencing Murat Arslan to 10 years of imprisonment.
The sentence issued today by the Turkish court was not a surprise. The whole procedure before the Turkish courts was not transparent and didn’t meet the criteria of a due process of law.
Murat Arslan faces very difficult conditions of detention. He is in an overcrowded cell, with 16 other inmates: 8 sleep on the floor, 8 have a bed and there aren’t enough toilets.
Marking the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Platform for an Independent Judiciary in Europe (of which MEDEL is a member) published a letter today, remembering the situation in Turkey and the violation of basic human rights in that country, mainly in what regards the right to a fair trial and an independent Judiciary.
Associazione Nazionale Magistrati adopted the statement following the news on the death in detention of Teoman Gökçe, former member of the HSYK.
While expressing the Italian judges’ and prosecutors’ solidarity with his family and the Turkish colleagues still in detention or removed from their positions, the ANM asks the Italian and European institutions to intervene and urge Turkey to reestablish the rule of law. You can read the statement below in Italian.
Everyone in Europe is aware that 150 journalists are detained in Turkey and that the majority of them have no idea what the indictments are. All judgments issued to date fundamentally contradict the rights and principles which form the (common) basis of European law.
Additionally, over 25% of all Turkish judges and prosecutors, namely more than 3,000, are also facing pre-trial detention.
Murat Arslan: "This trial is a revenge against YARSAV". Report about the first day of trial in the criminal proceedings against the chairman of YARSAV, the banned Turkish Association of Judges and Prosecutors.
Murat Arslan began his career in law at the Turkish National Court of Accounts (Sayıştay). He changed paths in 2005 when he became a reporter judge for the Constitutional Court. He first became active in YARSAV, the Turkish association of judges and prosecutors founded in 2006, as a member of the board. Later he became the vice-president of the association, and was elected president in 2011. He was reelected several times and was the chairman of YARSAV until the organization was banned by an emergency decree after the attempted coup d’état on 15.07.2015. Murat Arslan had already been transferred back to the national Court of Accounts in 2015. After the attempted coup d’état, he was dismissed and from 19.10.2016 on he has been in detention pending trial.
Situation in Turkey