Turkey: Human Rights Defender Arrested Again

New Information

TUR 002 / 9709 / OBS 013.02
June 2nd, 1998

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint
programme of the FIDH and OMCT, requests your URGENT intervention
regarding the following situation in Turkey.

Reminder of the situation:
Mr. Esber Yagmurdereli, a lawyer and prominent defender of human
rights, had been arrested by police forces, on October 19th, 1997,
while leaving the studios of the KANAL D television station. He had
been sentenced to serve a jail term of twenty-three years.

Mr. Esber Yagmurdereli, shortly before the overthrow of the government
in 1980, had been sentenced to a five-year jail term and charged with
"supporting illegal political movements". While he was serving his
jail term, the militaries in power, following the 1980 overthrow,
decided, in 1982, to change his sentence from five years to a life
sentence. After serving fifteen years in jail, he was released on
probation. After his release, he continued to pursue his activities in
favour of fundamental liberties and was invited to several
demonstrations which resulted in a new sentence of ten months. He was
charged with separatist propaganda on the grounds of Article 8 of the
Anti-Terrorist Law.

Mr. Esber Yagmurdereli made several appeals during his ten-month jail
term, all of which had been refused. Consequently, upon his arrest in
October 1997, he was facing what was left of the sentence of life
imprisonment handed down by the Military Court in 1982, as well as the
ten months sentence pronounced by the Security Court.

Mr. Esber Yagmurdereli was finally released on Monday, November 10th,
1997, after being pardoned by President Demirel. Nonetheless, this
pardon does not resolve Mr. Esber Yagmurdereli's situation. Indeed,
the decision that had been taken regarding his case only postponed,
for one year, the two sentences pronounced against him.

New information:
Mr. Esber Yagmurdereli was arrested on Monday, June 1st, 1998, in
Ankara, while visiting his lawyer. He was to be detained in the
Chankirj prison near Ankara.

 This arrest results from his refusal to provide a medical certificate
 to support the presidential claim that he was pardoned because of his
 health problems.

Turkish deputies should be discussing a legal project aimed at
modifying the Anti-Terrorist Law that lays down the grounds for the
convictions of Mr. Esber Yagmurdereli and many other journalists,
writers, intellectuals and human rights defenders. If this new law is
adopted by the Turkish parliament, it should in theory allow several
prisoners of conscience to be released, including Mr. Esber
Yagmurdereli. The Turkish Parliament should be shortly addressing this
matter.

Being as he is no doubt one of the most famous prisoners of conscience
in Turkey, the release of Mr. Esber Yagmurdereli, as well as other
prisoners of conscience, would symbolise the true willingness of
Turkish authorities to move towards a greater democracy.

Actions requested:
Please write to the authorities of the Turkish Republic and to the
Presidents of the parliamentary groups of the National Assembly,
urging them to:

i	-order the immediate and unconditionnal release of Mr. Esber
Yagmurdereli; ii.	-promote the modification of the Anti-Terrorist Law
aimed at reducing the climate of repression.

Addresses:
Monsieur le Président Demirel, Président de la République, Présidence,
Cumhur Baskanligi, 06 100 Ankara, Fax : 90 312 427 13 30

Monsieur Yilmaz, Premier Ministre, Basbakanlik, 06 573 Ankara, Fax :
90 312 417 04 76

Monsieur Olatan Sungurlu, Ministre de la Justice, Fax : 90 312 417 39
17

Monsieur Basegioglu, Ministre de l'Intérieur, Fax 90 312 419 16 64

The National Assembly

Geneva - Paris, 2 June 1998

The Human Rights Action Network, a part of Derechos Human Rights, distributes appeals on behalf of victims of human rights violations. You are invited to join the network. Please check the date of the present action and do not write if it's over a month old.