Urgent Action: Turkey must release civil society figures

Osman Kavala, Yiğit Aksakoğlu and 14 other prominent civil society figures are facing life in prison after a court accepted an indictment against them on 4 March. They are wrongly accused of ‘attempting to overthrow the government or prevent it from performing its duties’ for their alleged role in ‘directing’ the Gezi Park protests of 2013. Osman Kavala has already been remanded in pre-trial detention for over 16 months and Yiğit Aksakoğlu for almost four months. The rest of the accused are currently free pending trial. The Turkish authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Osman Kavala and Yiğit Aksakoğlu and drop the trumped-up charges against all 16.

Take action.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 1 APRIL 2019

Please write urgently in your own words or using the template letter included in English or Turkish to:

Minister of Justice of the Republic of Turkey

Mr Abdülhamit Gül

Adalet Bakanlığı

06659 Ankara, Turkey

Fax: +90 312 419 33 70

Email: info@adalet.gov.tr 

Salutation: Dear Minister

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. HIS EXCELLENCY MR Umit Yalcin, Embassy of the Republic of Turkey 43 Belgrave Square SW1X 8PA, 020 7393 0202, embassy.london@mfa.gov.tr  Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.