Selçuk Kozağaçlı, a jailed Turkish human rights attorney, will receive the Lawyers for Lawyers Award for 2019, the international lawyers organization announced on Friday.
The award “aims to honour lawyers who have made significant contributions to the protection of the rule of law and human rights in challenging environments” and grants €10,000 to the winner.
Kozağaçlı, who was arrested in November 2017 on terrorism charges and received a sentence of 11 years at trial, was president of the now-closed Progressive Lawyers’ Association (ÇHD).
The awards jury of Lawyers for Lawyers, which was established in 1986, said that “by awarding Selçuk Kozağaçlı the Lawyers for Lawyers Award the jury wants to applaud the unwavering dedication of both Selçuk Kozağaçlı and his colleagues to defending the basic human rights of their clients.”
“With this award, the jury also honours the many Turkish lawyers that have been prosecuted in Turkey for doing their job,” the statement added.
Turkish lawyers Ramazan Demir, Veysel Ok and Ali Yıldız were on the shortlist for the award.