At least 270 cases were opened in the last five years against the lawyers from Asrýn Law Office that handles the cases of Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdish people.

Four lawyers were already sentenced to 35 years in prison while recently Abdullah Öcalan’s lawyer Ýbrahim Bilmez was sentenced to six years and three months in prison by Istanbul 4th Heavy Penal Court for "being a courier on behalf of an illegal organization.

The cases were launched based on the client-lawyer relation, i.e. using as 'evidence' of culpability the visits conducted by the lawyers.

Sixteen lawyers such Aysel Tuðluk, Mahmut Þakar, Ýrfan Dündar, Doðan Erbaþ, Bekir Kaya, Muzaffer Akad, Ayla Ata Akad, Okan Yýldýz, Fýrat Aydýnkaya, Aydýn Oruç, Devrim Barýþ Baran, Mahmut Vefa, Ahmet Avþar, Aydýn Oruç, Hatice Korkut and Türkan Aslan are accused of “intentionally aiding and abiding the organization without being hierarchic part of it” and “being member of the organization”.