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Turkish lawyer Ebru Timtik, who had been on a hunger strike for 238 days to demand a fair trial for herself and 17 of her colleagues accused of links to the Revolutionary Front for Popular Liberation (DHKP / C), an extreme group left considered a terrorist organization by the Turkish government, the United States and the European Union.
Timtik, 42, participated in the defense of human rights. In 2019, she was sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison and her case was to be tried on appeal. She had started her hunger strike, together with her colleague Aytac Unsal, currently in critical condition, to protest against what she believed to be illegal procedures.
#Turkey: the lawyer died yesterday #EbruTimtik after 238 days of hunger strike.
He just asked for a fair trial.
The Constitutional Court had rejected the request for his release because his life was “not in danger”.@MarianoGiustino ⤵️https: //t.co/bAWrtdFbWD pic.twitter.com/5C9cUPkTJs
– Radio Radicale (@RadioRadicale) August 28, 2020
The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long been widely accused of compromising the impartiality and independence of the judiciary, and several bar associations have reported procedural irregularities in the trial of Timtik and his colleagues. These included the removal of the judges who had initially authorized the release of the lawyers prior to trial and the use of anonymous testimony against them.
– Read also: After newspapers, Turkey also wants to control social media
In May, three other people had died in Turkey after long hunger strikes: they were three musicians who were members of the group Grup Yorum and they had also been accused of having links with DHKP / C. Over the years the members of the group they had been detained several times, their records had been seized and since 2016 they could no longer perform live concerts.
– Read also: The main protests against violence against women in Turkey
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