The Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party has sharply condemned the re-arrest of prominent rights lawyer Selçuk Kozağaçlı, calling it a blatant example of “legalised unlawfulness” and political repression.
In a statement released on Thursday, the DEM Party accused the government of transforming the judiciary into a “tool of political vengeance”, adding:
“Arbitrariness and unlawfulness have turned the judiciary into a tool of politics. We strongly condemn this and demand the immediate release of Selçuk Kozağaçlı.”
The renewed detention of Kozağaçlı, who had just been freed after more than seven years behind bars, sparked widespread outrage across the country. The lawyer, who serves as honorary chair of the Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD), was re-arrested less than 24 hours after his release in the same case, which relates to terrorism charges critics say are politically motivated.
Protests were held by lawyers, bar associations and opposition figures in several cities, with many echoing the DEM Party’s condemnation.
In İzmir, the Labour and Democracy Forces gathered with the city’s Bar Association and local officials, including Karabağlar Mayor Helil Kınay and Bar Chair Sefa Yılmaz. The crowd held signs demanding Kozağaçlı’s release and chanted: “We do not stay silent, we do not fear, we do not obey.”
Sefa Yılmaz, reading a joint statement, described the re-arrest as a travesty: “What we are witnessing is not law, but vengeance dressed up in procedure,” he said. “This shows that no one is protected by legal guarantees anymore.”
In İstanbul, dozens of lawyers rallied outside the city’s Bar Association. Protesters held banners quoting Kozağaçlı’s words following his release: “We will not allow them to treat us this way.” One lawyer read a statement denouncing the judiciary’s subservience to political power: “This is not justice—it is political revenge. Kozağaçlı was arrested because he stands with workers, the poor and those the system fears.”
Kozağaçlı is a prominent human rights defender known for representing families affected by state violence, workplace disasters and politically sensitive cases. He was first arrested in 2017 and accused of membership in the banned Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C)—charges widely criticised by rights organisations.
Groups such as Amnesty International and the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe have denounced the prosecution as politically driven. His sudden re-arrest without a hearing has intensified fears over the collapse of judicial independence in Turkey, especially amid ongoing purges of civil society.
Kozağaçlı is expected to appear in court again in the coming months.
