Milena Buyum will hold a final retrial hearing tomorrow for Mücella Yapıcı, Hakan Altınay and Yiğit Ekmekçi, whose original convictions and 18-year prison terms stemming from mass protests in 2013 were handed down last year. Overturned. Amnesty International’s senior Türkiye campaigner said:
“The court has a duty to end the politically motivated prosecution of Mücella Yapıcı, Hakan Altınay and Yiğit Ekmekçi and to acknowledge the injustice they suffered. For more than seven years, the prosecution has repeatedly failed to provide any evidence to substantiate the charges against them , appears to be groundless.
“The unfair prosecution of them and the other four Gezi Park prisoners of conscience not only constitutes a serious violation of their rights, but also serves as a shameful example of the Turkish justice system becoming a tool of political repression.”
The prosecution of prisoners of conscience in Gezi Park is a shameful example of Türkiye’s judicial system becoming a tool of political repression
“All three must be acquitted of all charges and, following their acquittal, Ousmane Kavala and four other Gezi prisoners of conscience who continue to suffer unjustly in prison must be immediately released.”
background
In April 2022, Mücella Yapıcı, Hakan Altınay and Yiğit Ekmekçi were convicted together with Çiğdem Mater, Tayfun Kahraman, Mine Özerden and Can Atalay for their alleged involvement in the 2013 Gezi Park protests, on charges of assisting Osman Kavala to overthrow the government.” .
On September 28, 2023, the Supreme Court overturned the convictions and 18-year prison sentences of Mücella Yapıcı, Yiğit Ekmekçi, and Hakan Altınay, stating that they could face new charges under the Assemblies and Demonstrations Law (Law No. 2911) if they Participation in illegal demonstrations can be determined.
The retrial of Hakan Altınay, Yiğit Ekmekçi and Mücella Yapıcı will begin in February 2024 for violating the Law on Assemblies and Demonstrations (Law No. 2911).
Amnesty International has previously stressed that the Gezi case was a politically motivated prosecution, a betrayal of justice and a violation of the binding ruling of the European Court of Human Rights.
