The Justice Vigil launched by TMMOB and affiliated chambers to protest the unlawfulness in the Gezi Trial marks its 42nd day. TMMOB’s Ankara Branch released information about the visits on the 40th and 41st days of the vigil. The Ankara Branch said that the vigil was taken over by the Consumer Rights Association (THD) on its 40th day, and by the Chamber of Survey and Cadastre Engineers on the 41st day.

THD Chair Turhan Çakar and Deputy Chair Zeynep Aydın made a presentation on “Contemporary Consumer Issues and Consumer Rights”. Ergün Kılıç, another Deputy Chair of the THD, made evaluations about consumer rights, urban transformation, plunder and privatization.

The TMMOB Board of Directors visited the vigil following its first meeting that followed its general assembly elections. TMMOB Board Chair Emin Koramaz made a speech during the visit and said, “This disgraceful decision is an intimidation against all engineers, architects and citizens who are in favour of equality and freedom, not just against 3 of our friends who have been put in prison. We have never been afraid of bans and arrests.”

“We will continue our struggle until all our friends are released. There is no emancipation alone, either all together or none of us,” Koramaz added.

Tezcan Karakuş Candan, Head of TMMOB’s Ankara Branch, said that they continue their Justice Vigil in all cities, adding that the justice vigils in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir are carried out continuously and alternately.

Ankara Women's Solidarity Committees also paid a solidarity visit to the vigil.

Background

The shameful sentence in the Gezi Trial was announced by the Istanbul Heavy Penal Court on April 25. Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala was sentenced to an aggravated life sentence in Istanbul's much-criticized "Gezi trial." The three judges handed down the sentence to the 64-year-old on charges of attempting to overthrow the government. 

Kavala has been imprisoned in the maximum-security Silivri prison near Istanbul for four and a half years without having been found guilty of any of the charges against him so far. The Turkish judiciary and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accuse him of trying to destabilize the country. According to the indictment, the charges in the trial were an attempted coup in connection with the Gezi protests of 2013 and "political and military espionage" in connection with the coup attempt of 2016. In February 2020, a court acquitted him of this charge.

Seven co-defendants of Kavala, who appeared in court at the same time as him, were sentenced to 18 years in prison; Ayşe Mücella Yapıcı from the board of the Istanbul Chamber of Architects, film producer Çiğdem Mater Utku, director Mine Özerden, lawyer Can Atalay, urban planner Tayfun Kahraman and academic Yiğit Ekmekçi, who is among the co-founders of Istanbul Bilgi University. They were accused of aiding and abetting the coup attempt. The court issued arrest warrants on the grounds of "risk of flight" due to the heavy sentence. They were arrested while still in the courtroom.

The Kavala case has brought Turkey sharp international criticism. The country is threatened with expulsion from the Council of Europe because of it. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ordered the release of the philanthropist in 2019, classifying his detention as politically motivated. A diplomatic furor erupted in late 2021 after ten Western ambassadors to Turkey wrote to demand Kavala's release. President Erdoğan considered this to be inadmissible interference and threatened the diplomats with expulsion.