High Council of Judges of Turkey: Immediate release of Turkish Judges Özçelik and Başer from detention

During its Conference held in Gdansk on 16th May 2015, the
European Association of Judges dealt with the problems of
justice in Turkey. Special focus was given to the arrest and
detention of the two Turkish judges Metin Özcelik and
Mustafa Baser on the 30th April 2015 in Istanbul. The two judges were arrested in Istanbul on the 30th April 2015, after having ordered the release from pre-trial detention of police officers and journalists. The arrest and detention proceeded on the purported ground
that the judges had ordered the release of an alleged suspect.
Any attempt to undermine the freedom of a judge to
establish facts and apply the law in a particular case
constitutes a clear breach of principle of judicial
independence.
EAJ condems the arrest and detention of any judge on the
basis of a decision taken in the exercise of the judge’s
judicial functions and calls for the immediate release of the
judges Metin Özcelik and Mustafa Baser.
We join this demand.
(see also: http://www.iaj-uim.org/news/arrest-and-detention-of-turkish-judges-mustafa-basar-and-metin-ozcelik/ )