Top Turkish court rejects appeals of Gezi Park defendants

Turkey’s Constitutional Court has rejected the appeals of Gezi Park trial defendants Tayfun Kahraman, Mücella Yapıcı and Can Atalay who were each given 18-year jail terms in April.

Friday August 26 2022 08:01 am

Duvar English

Turkey’s Constitutional Court has rejected the applications of Gezi Park trial defendants Tayfun Kahraman, Mücella Yapıcı and Can Atalay, according to reporting by online news outlet T24.

Following their convictions on April 25, the three defendants took the case to the top court. After a deliberation on Aug. 18, the Constitutional Court ruled that the applicants' right to freedom of expression, right to hold demonstration and freedom of organization had not been violated, saying that the applicants’ arguments were “manifestly ill-founded.”

Among the top court members who signed the decision is İrfan Fidan who prosecuted several important cases including the Gezi Park trial itself and Selahaddin Menteş who is the former undersecretary of the Justice Ministry.

Lawyer Evren İşler said that even the fact that İrfan Fidan is among the judges constitutes as unlawfulness. “This is a decision that once again shows what the effect of politics on the judiciary can cause. And the other member judge was previously appointed from the Justice Ministry Undersecretariat,” lawyer İşler told Daily Birgün.

On April 25, an Istanbul court sentenced seven defendants to 18 years in prison in the Gezi Park trial, while human rights defender Osman Kavala was sentenced to life imprisonment.

The 13th Istanbul Assize Court convicted them for “attempting to overthrow the government” under Article 312/1 of the Turkish Penal Code.