Timtik was sentenced in 2019 to 13 years and six months in prison for “being a member of a terrorist organization” in a controversial trial in which the defense criticized the lack of access to evidence

The Turkish lawyer Ebru Timtik has died after 238 days on a hunger strike to demand a “fair trial” after being sentenced to thirteen years in prison for belonging to a terrorist organization, according to the Progressive Lawyers Association (CHD).

“We have just lost our lawyer friend Ebru Timtik, who has died after 238 days in a fast to ask for a fair trial,” announced last night in a tweet the ÇHD, of which Timtik was a member.

Timtik was sentenced in March 2019 to 13 years and six months in prison for “being a member of a terrorist organization” in a controversial trial in which the defense criticized the lack of access to evidence and the court accepted anonymous witnesses.

The woman was sentenced along with 17 other CHD lawyers to a total of 159 years in prison for links with the ultra – The Revolutionary People’s Liberation Front-Party (or Devrimci Halk Kurtuluş Partisi-Cephesi or DHKP-C).

Timtik started a hunger strike on January 2, followed a month later by another convicted lawyer, Aytac Unsal.

Both were hospitalized in late July after a court refused to release them, despite a report from the Istanbul Institute of Forensic Medicine detailing their physical deterioration.

Tüm meslektaşlarımızı, bugün sabah 10:00’da arkadaşımız yoldaşımız Av. Ebru Timtik’in cenazesini ATK’dan teslim almaya ve saat 12:00’da İstanbul Barosu önünde gerçekleştirilecek anma törenine davet ediyoruz.

Av. Ebru Timtik Ölümsüzdür! pic.twitter.com/p1g4zwNyh6

— ÖHD İstanbul (@ohd_istanbul) August 27, 2020

Thousands of people today sent messages of condolence for the death of the lawyer and criticized the situation of the judicial system in Turkey.

“The ‘political will’ intervened and issued an order for her arrest. The peak of injustice has been reached. Do not forget that it may happen to you tomorrow. Do not be silent, raise your voice! ” Eren Keskin said in a tweet, the vice president of the human rights association IHD.

“They have not heard the cries for a fair trial for months. They covered their ears and turned their backs on them. They have killed justice and conscience, ” said Erinc Sackan, president of the Ankara Bar Association.

Timtik is the fourth Turkish prisoner to die this year on a hunger strike, following the death of two musicians from the Grup Yorum band, who demanded the release of seven members of the group; and the death of Mustafa Kocak, who called for a “fair trial”.