On January 28, 2010,   Filiz Kalayci as well as   Hasan Anlar, İHD Deputy Secretary General, Halil İbrahim Vargün and Murat Vargün, İHD lawyers and members, were summoned  to appear before the 11th Heavy Penal Court of Ankara. The Court  ordered   Filiz Kalayci’s release. However, the four human rights lawyers remain reportedly prosecuted for “aiding illegal organisations”. The next hearing was scheduled for June 10, 2010.

Filiz Kalayci, a lawyer and İHD Executive Committee member,   has been working on human rights violations in prisons and on the improvement of prison conditions. She is a member of the executive committee of the Human Rights Association (IHD). She was arrested on May 27, 2009 on the basis of an allegation of “aiding illegal organisations” and she had remained since then detained in Sincan’s Women Prison in Ankara

See background information and previous IDHAE urgent appeal:

http://www.idhae.org/uk-page4.1.eur.tur4.htm

Filiz Kalayci was first arrested on 12 May 2009 along with three other lawyers linked to IHD , Mr. Hasan Anlar, Mr. Halil İbrahim Vargün and Mr. Murat Vargün, lawyers when her office and residence were raided by officers of the Ankara Directorate of Security's Anti-Terrorism Department who were in possession of a search warrant and a detention order against them. They were immediately arrested, placed in police custody in the Anti-Terror Forces Unit detention centre.

These arrests intervened after the publication by İHD of a report on human rights violations in prisons of Turkey on February 6, 2009 and made it public to draw attention on these violations. İHD had shared this report with the authorities. In addition, Ms. Filiz Kalayci, Mr. Hasan Anlar, Mr. Halil İbrahim Vargün and Mr. Murat Vargün had been working on cases of human rights violations that occurred in detention, and as a consequence they often received letters of complaint from prison inmates.

The 11^th Heavy Penal Court of Ankara, however, did not uphold the arrest and ordered the release of Filiz Kalayci on14 May 2009. The Public Prosecutor appealed the court's decision to relase her and issued another arrest warrant on 25 May 2009. On 27 May 2009, Filiz Kalayci was at Ankara Court House to work on some of her clients' files, when she was arrested by police. She was immediately brought before a judge who confirmed the arrest. She was charged with aiding an illegal organization-the Kurdistan Wokers' Party (PKK), under Article 220/7 of Turkish Penal Code.

Ms Filiz Kalayci was immediately transferred to the F-type (maximum security) Sincan's Women's Prison in Ankara. Filiz's lawyers appealed the decision of arrest to the Istanbul Heavy Penal Court but it is not yet known when the court will make a decision regarding this appeal.

Filiz Kalayci remained arbitrarily detained in the women prison of Ankara since May 28, 2009

Call upon the Turkish authorities to release Ms. Filiz Kalayci, immediately and unconditionally as her detention seems to merely aim at sanctioning her human rights activities, and therefore contravenes the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998.

Please urge the Turkish authorities to:

i.                    Drop all charges against  Filiz Kalayci, as she is being held solely as a result of her legitimate and peaceful work in the defence of human rights

ii.                  Put an end to all acts harassment, including at the judicial level, against Ms. Filiz Kalayci, as well as Messrs. Hasan Anlar, Halil İbrahim Vargün and Murat Vargün and guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of all human rights defenders in Turkey;

iii.                Comply with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, especially its Article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”, as well as Article 12.2, which provides that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration”;

iv.               More generally, ensure in all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international and regional human rights instruments ratified by Turkey. .

Please take action on behalf of   Filiz Kalayci.

Copy the enclosed letter and send it to the address provided.

ADRESSES: 

President Abdullah Gul,
Office of the President,
Cumhurbaskanligi Kosku,
Cankaya,
Ankara,
Turkey.

LETTRE: 

PLEASE ACT NOW.

THANK YOU.