Judicial observation mission – Criminal trial of the Istanbul Bar President and the Council of the Bar Association
Trial observation of: Istanbul Bar President and Council of the Bar Association (Criminal trial)
Date of mission: 26 – 30 May 2025
Date of the report: June 2025
Description: The OIAD, represented by its delegates Antonio Fraticelli (Bologna), Franck Heurtrey (Lyon) and Charles Ohlgusser (Paris), attended the opening of the new trial of Selçuk Kozağaçlı, Özgür Yılmaz, Oya Aslan and Barkın Timtik, all four long-term prisoners, and Güçlü Sevimli and Gülvin Aydın, prosecuted for ‘terrorist propaganda’, at the Çağlayan Court in Istanbul.
On 28 May 2025, OIAD observers attended the criminal trial initiated by the Turkish authorities against the President of the Istanbul Bar Association, Ibrahim Kaboğlu, and members of his Bar Council, for ‘disseminating misleading information’ and ‘terrorist propaganda’.
Finally, the OIAD was able to attend the release of Firat Epözdemir at the end of his trial on 29 May 2025.
