Lawyer refuses to defend Gülen claiming he also suffered

Mesut Hasan Benli – ANKARA

A lawyer has resigned from defending U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who is believed to have orchestrated the July 15 failed coup attempt, saying that he and the people around him suffered from the movement’s actions. 

“I won’t be a lawyer for Fethullah Gülen. I will object to the bar’s decision,” Alihan Uncu told daily Hürriyet, adding that he would continue in his struggle to not represent Gülen.

Uncu received a call from the Ankara bar’s automatic software system used to pick lawyers for those who fail to appoint one on Aug. 10, as he was chatting in a bar with his colleagues. The system said that Uncu would be appointed to a case in the Ankara Fourth Heavy Penal Court, without giving the specifics of the case.

“If you accept press one, if you don’t press zero,” the system said, and Uncu accepted the duty by pressing one.

He received a text message from the Ankara bar after he hung up the phone, which read that Uncu would be Gülen’s lawyer in the main case regarding the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ) due to start in November.  

Uncu’s first reaction was reportedly to throw his phone onto the table.

The lawyer went to the Ankara Fourth Heavy Penal Court the next day to examine the file. He determined that many people were victims of the organization’s actions, including himself. He then applied to the Ankara bar to resign from being Gülen’s lawyer. 

“It is not among my duties to defend a leader of an organization who targeted me and the people around me,” read Uncu’s resignation petition, which was refused by the Ankara bar. 

Saying that the assignment system of the Ankara bar had changed, Uncu added that the automatic system tells the lawyers the name of the suspects.

“The Ankara bar’s automatic software system tells the names of the suspects in the assignments. The lawyers decide accordingly whether to accept the duty or not. I will continue my struggle,” he added.