Summary
On August, 25th 2018, police in Istanbul used tear gas and water cannons to disperse a peaceful gathering of hundreds of people including relatives of victims of enforced disappearances, some of whom in their 80s, known as ‘Saturday Mothers/People’. The Mothers, other relatives and their supporters have been holding a peaceful weekly vigil on Istanbul’s Galatasaray Square, protesting the enforced disappearance of their loved ones and demanding justice since 1995. This was their 700th vigil. Dozens were detained on the day, 46 people including some of the relatives were unjustly indicted for attending an ‘unlawful protest’ under the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations. Their unfair, baseless trial is ongoing as is the ban on Galatasaray Square which has been surrounded by police barriers and occupied by riot police ever since.
The fifth hearing in the trial of 46 defendants that began on May, 25th 2021 will take place on September, 21st 2022.
As the longest ongoing peaceful protest in Turkey, it is emblematic of the severe and unlawful restrictions on the exercise of the right to peaceful assembly in the country.
