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Timtik’s coffin carried by a crowd. Image: keystone
After 238 days on hunger strike: arrested Turkish lawyer dies in hospital
Turkish lawyer Ebru Timtik, convicted of terrorist charges, died after 238 days on a hunger strike in Istanbul. This was announced by his law firm on Twitter on Friday.
Timtik died Thursday in a hospital of “martyr’s death,” he said. The EU Commission reacted with dismay and urged Turkey to advance the rule of law and the protection of fundamental rights.
The lawyer wanted to achieve a fair trial with the hunger strike. She and her colleague Aytac Ünsal, who was also convicted of terrorism charges, went on a hunger strike in February. Ünsal is currently in hospital for treatment due to her condition.
Just a few days ago, several bar associations had demanded the release of the two human rights lawyers. Both were in critical condition, he told himself. Timtik’s law firm called a solidarity meeting in front of the Istanbul Bar Association on Friday before she was buried.
According to supporters, Timtik was among a total of 18 lawyers in Turkey who were sentenced to long prison terms for allegedly belonging to a terrorist organization. All are involved in associations that often represent opposition, he said.
An Istanbul court sentenced Timtik to more than 13 years and Ünsal to more than 10 years in prison in 2019. Both were charged with links to the left-wing extremist DHKP-C, which is considered a terrorist organization in Turkey. (dpa / ch-media)
