In July 2017, ten human rights defenders from various international organisations who were taking part in a routine training workshop on the island of Büyükada, Istanbul, were arrested. Two of them, İdil Eser and Özlem Dalkıran, also work as translators. Both are members of the Translators´ Association Turkey (Çevirmenler Birliği, ÇEVBİR (http://cevbir NULL.org NULL.tr/)).
Eser, Dalkıran and six of their colleagues were detained for nearly four months before being charged and appearing in court. The human rights defenders are charged with assisting various terrorist organizations, and face imprisonment of up to fifteen years.
Özlem Dalkıran and İdil Eser
At the first hearing on 25 October 2017, the judge decided to release all eight detained human rights defenders. At the second hearing, on 22 November 2017, their judicial were lifted.
The next hearing will take place on 31 January 2018 in the court house in Çağlayan, Istanbul.
For a short chronological overview (in English) of the events in the case until the first hearing, please click here (https://bianet NULL.org/english/media/190985-german-fm-release-of-rights-defenders-is-an-encouraging-signal).