JINHA

ISTANBUL – A lynch campaign has begun against academics who signed a statement titled, “We will not be party to this crime.” 2000 lawyers have announced their support for the academics.

After academics in Turkey signed a statement titled, “We will not be party to this crime,” a lynch campaign against them has begun. Academics have declared they will not compromise despite the investigations and threats against them.

2000 lawyers in Turkey have announced their support to the academics. The lawyers made a statement: “We stand with all people who declared they would not be party to crime. We reiterate that we'd be honored to be volunteer as lawyers for all people who are being targeted by armed attacks, pressure and politics of intimidation carried out by the judiciary and the media.”

Pointing out that racist expressions against the academics are a crime, the lawyers continued, “We warn the public prosecutor and the Minister of Justice to not serve as the guillotine of those in power by criminalizing their freedom of expression, trade union activities and peace demands. We entirely embrace the petition by academics, titled ‘We will not be party to this crime.’ We will pursue legal action regarding threats against the academics and we will serve as their lawyers at every stage.”

Bahri Belen, Veysel Ok, Yakup Okumuşoğlu, Züleyha Gülüm, Fırat Epözdemir, Oya Aslan, Ercan Kanar, Güçlü Sevimli, Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat, Selçuk Kozaağaçlı are among the lawyers who signed the statement.

(gc/gd)