Photo: Semih Özakça (L) and Nuriye Gülmen (R)
LRWC calls upon Turkey to immediately and unconditionally release Didem Unsal and 17 other lawyers, who were arrested and detained on 12 September 2017. The timing of the arrests was only one day before the lawyers were scheduled to defend Nuriye Gulmen and Semih Ozakca, who have been hunger striking in protest of Turkey’s ongoing repression of lawyers and educators. LRWC concludes that these arrests and detentions contravene Turkey’s international human rights law obligations to ensure lawyers can perform their duties, and to guarantee competent legal representation of choice for individuals facing criminal charges. The arrests of Didem Unsal and the 17 other lawyers is part of a sweeping crackdown against lawyers and human rights defenders in Turkey, which has included the arbitrary arrest and continued detention of Amnesty International Turkey’s Director, Idil Eser, and Chair, Taner Kiliç
