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The Observatory has been informed about the sentencing of
Eren Keskin, a human rights lawyer[1]
and the co-president of the Human Rights Association (İHD). Ms. Eren Keskin is the winner of multiple international awards for her peace and human rights work, including the 2018 Helsinki Civil Society Award, and was a finalist of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in 2019.
On February 15, 2021, the İstanbul 23rd Heavy Penal Court sentenced Eren Keskin to six years and three months in prison for “membership to an illegal armed organisation” (Article 314/2 of the Criminal Code) in the Özgür Gündem trial. Three of the eight other defendants in this trial were also sentenced to prison terms while three were acquitted and the file of the two others were separated from the main case. Ms. Keskin’s lawyers appealed the judgment and she remains free pending trial.
In Belarus, large, peaceful demonstrations challenged the official results of the 9 August, 2020 presidential election. This popular movement was met with unprecedented violence by the security forces. A few days into the repression, a team of lawyers from the Russian human rights group Committee Against Torture, a member of the OMCT SOS-Torture Network, went to Minsk to investigate the abuses and litigate cases. During almost three months, they worked undercover to document shocking cases of brutality and even torture. Interview of the team leader, Dmitry Kazakov.
You worked in a foreign country, investigating violations that were (and are) still ongoing. What were the main challenges for your team?