GENEVA (6 February 2019) – The authorities in Turkey must guarantee a fair appeals process for award-winning senior Judge Murat Arslan, who has been convicted in violation of due process and judicial guarantees, says the UN Special Rapporteur for the independence of judges and lawyers Diego Garcia-Sayán.
“The conviction of Judge Arslan constitutes a severe and gross attack on the independence of the judiciary in Turkey, and in a democratic state under the rule of law an independent and impartial judiciary is a fundamental guarantee for society as a whole,” said the UN human rights expert.
Murat Arslan, a former Chair of the Association of Judges and Prosecutors, has been in jail since his arrest on 18 October 2016. He was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment by a court in Ankara after he was convicted of being a member of the so-called Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), which the Government of Turkey says was behind the attempted coup earlier that year.