Lawyers detained for joining Gezi Park protests released

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

All 49 lawyers were subsequently released, Doğan news agency reported. DHA photo

Dozens of lawyers were detained for several hours by police at Istanbul’s Çağlayan Courthouse today for joining the Taksim Gezi protests, which have been raging across the country for 15 days now.

A Special Forces Unit intervened in a protest being held inside the Çağlayan Courthouse, leading to a number of lawyers falling to the ground. This was the third such protest held by the lawyers to support the Gezi protesters in Taksim.

All 49 lawyers were subsequently released, Doğan news agency reported. Around 100 lawyers went to the police station to demand the release of their colleagues.

The Ankara Bar Association said the lawyers had been detained by the police today while issuing a press statement on the protests in Istanbul’s Çağlayan Courthouse.

“The detainment of the lawyers at the courthouse by force brings the question of what kind of a ‘democratic regime’ we are living in,” said the bar in a statement sent to the Hürriyet Daily News.

The Ankara Bar asked who else could have safety and guarantees over property in a country where lawyers are taken from a courthouse by police. It also said it would follow the issue closely and that it would protect the rights of the detained lawyers, who belong to the Istanbul Bar Association.

Meanwhile, the Turkish branch of Amnesty International condemned police violence via its Twitter account today. “We condemn shameful and brutal police violence. We repeated our justice demand in a meeting with [the] Istanbul governor,” it stated.