A regional Turkish appeals court on Wednesday upheld prison sentences handed down to 20 attorneys from now-closed lawyers associations on terrorism charges, the Bianet news website reported.
For lawyers Didem Baydar Ünsal, Yaprak Türkmen, Ayşegül Çağatay, Yağmur Ereren Evin, Ahmet Mandacı and Zehra Özdemir, who had received sentences of less than five years, the regional court’s decision is final.
However, Barkın Timtik, Selçuk Kozağaçlı, Engin Gökoğlu, Özgür Yılmaz, Ebru Timtik, Şükriye Erden, Behiç Aşçı, Aytaç Ünsal, Süleyman Gökten, Naciye Demir, Aycan Çiçek and Ezgi Çakır, who were sentenced more than five years, can appeal to Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals.
The court also ruled for a continuation of the defendants’ incarceration.
Kozağaçlı, also a human rights activist who was sentenced to 11 years in prison, received the Lawyer for Lawyers 2019 award in May.