The Ankara Branch of the Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD) stated that the postponement of release issued for ÇHD Honorary Chairperson Selçuk Kozağaçlı by the Administration and Observation Board at Silivri Prison was unlawful, and called for the immediate release of Kozağaçlı and the other lawyers detained in the same case.
During the press statement held at the association’s office, participants carried photographs of Kozağaçlı and displayed a banner reading “Release Selçuk Kozağaçlı.” Nergiz Görnaz, a member of the ÇHD Ankara Branch who delivered the statement, recalled that Kozağaçlı’s wife, Meriç Kozağaçlı, had been released on 16 April only to be re-arrested the following day.
Görnaz emphasized that Kozağaçlı and 19 other lawyers were detained based on the statements of cooperating witnesses, saying that this practice has become systematic in political trials. The statement noted that sentences in politically motivated cases are upheld rapidly, and that later, through the Administration and Observation Boards in prisons, releases are unlawfully blocked.
Görnaz warned that the re-arrest of individuals who have already been released on conditional parole may become widespread, describing this as “the final link in a chain of injustice.”
In its statement, the ÇHD listed the following demands:
– The release of Selçuk Kozağaçlı and all lawyers detained in the same case
– An end to the practice of using cooperating witnesses in political trials
– The immediate abolition of the Administration and Observation Board, which is used in prisons to block releases