Berlin bar asks for lawyer’s release

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

The Berlin Bar Association’s human rights officer Bernd Haeusler has called for the release of Turkish lawyer Muharram Erbey, the winner of the Ludovic-Trarieux 2012 Human Rights Award given by the bar association.

Speaking at a press conference Haeusler said he would not spare his efforts for the release of his colleague and he wanted to visit him in the eastern province of Diyarbakır before the beginning of his trial today.

The Berlin Bar Association will present Erbey the Ludovic-Trarieux 2012 Human Rights Award in November 2012.

Erbey is the deputy chairman of the Human Rights Foundation, and he works on human rights violations of Kurdish people. Haeusler said that although the investigation into his case was already finished and he is not a flight risk, Erbey has been kept in custody for 2.5 years now. “This is because the lawyer is put in the same place as his client, and this is against the regulation of ‘Basic Principles of the Role of Lawyers,’ which was acknowledged by the United Nations 20 years ago.”