Law Society questions investigations into Elci’s death

The President of the Law Society, Jonathan Smithers, has written an official letter to the Justice Minister of Turkey, Kenan Ipek, with his concerns about the investigation into Tahir Elci’s assassination in November 2015.

The well-known human rights lawyer was shot dead in broad daylight, soon after having made a statement calling for an end to the curfews and state sanctioned violence in Kurdish cities at a press conference. The Law Society president raises concerns about lost evidence, witness  statements and possible interferences in the investigations.

To read the letter download it here

European Lawyers Delegation visits Diyarbakir

Press release

A delegation of European lawyers will visit Diyarbakir from 21st to 24th January 2016. The 13 participants come from Belgium, Germany, Italy, and Austria. Two European lawyers’ organisations are supporting this initiative, the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights (ELDH) and the European Democratic Lawyers (EDL) and also the “Unione delle Camere Penali Italiane”

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Statement of the IADL & ELDH on the assassination of Tahir Elçi

November 28, 2015

(PDF copies are available)

The International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), a non-governmental organization with consultative status to the Council on Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations (ECOSOC), and the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy & World Human Rights (ELDH) are shocked and outraged by the brutal murder this morning of our colleague Tahir Elçi, president of the Diyarbakir Bar Association.

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