Front Line is concerned following reports that human rights lawyer, Ms Filiz Kalayci, was arrested on 27 May 2009. Filiz Kalayci has been working on human rights violations in prisons and on the improvement of prison conditions. She is a member of the executive committee of the Human Rights Association (IHD).

Further Information

Filiz Kalayci was first arrested on 12 May 2009 along with three other lawyers, when her office and residence were raided by officers of the Ankara Directorate of Security’s Anti-Terrorism Department. She was charged with aiding an illegal organisation – the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), under Article 220/7 of Turkish Penal Code.

The 11th Heavy Penal Court of Ankara, however, did not uphold the arrest and ordered the release of Filiz Kalayci on 14 May 2009. The Public Prosecutor appealed the court's decision to release her and issued another arrest warrant on 25 May 2009. On 27 May 2009, Filiz Kalayci was at Ankara Court House to work on some of her clients' files, when she was arrested by police. She was immediately brought before a judge who confirmed the arrest and then transferred to prison.

IHD believes that the charges against Filiz Kalayci represent a retaliation for her human rights work, in particular in denouncing the conditions of detention in Turkish prisons.

Front Line is concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Filiz Kalayci while in detention.