Turkey: Call for freedom for 'Gezi' prisoners on 1,500th day of protest vigil

In Izmir, Turkey, members of the TMMOB Izmir Provincial Coordination Board held a press conference to mark the 1,500th day of their "Justice Watch for Gezi" vigil. The demonstration calls for the release of individuals still imprisoned for their involvement in the 2013 Gezi Park protests.

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This decision, which is an unlawful decision by the court under the influence of power, has been exactly 1,500 days. We have witnessed a great legal scandal for these 1,500 days. We all know now that this decision is not just against our friends. This decision is directed at the millions who shook and frightened the government in May-June 2013; it is aimed at punishing the democratic rights of millions of people, suppressing their peaceful and democratic demands, and taking revenge and punishing in a way that is not fitting for public administration.

Reading a statement from the Izmir Chamber of Food Engineers, Uğur Toprak declared that the court's decision in the Gezi case, which he deemed unlawful, has stood for 1,500 days. He characterized the ongoing imprisonment as a "legal scandal" and asserted that the verdict targets not only the accused but also the millions who participated in the 2013 protests.

Toprak argued that the current "one-man regime's" legal system, which he described as crumbling, is used to punish social opposition rather than ensure justice. He stated that viewing the peaceful expression of public demands and participation in protests as an attempted coup demonstrates the undemocratic mindset of the country's leaders.

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We continue to stand firmly by our friends who were tried and received sentences in the Gezi Trial, just as we stood firmly behind the Gezi Resistance. Because we know that Gezi is us. It is our most organized voice raised against hunger, poverty, oppression, and tyranny. It is the outcry of millions against a handful of capitalists, a handful of tyrants. Our parks, our trees, our forests, our rivers... Gezi is this country itself. It is its history. It is its heritage. It is its future.

The activists reaffirmed their unwavering support for those prosecuted and sentenced in the Gezi case, emphasizing that "Gezi is us." They described the movement as the most organized voice against hunger, poverty, oppression, and injustice, and a cry from millions against a select few capitalists and tyrants. The vigil concluded with a renewed demand for the release of Gezi detainees, asserting that the people's just struggle and the spirit of Gezi cannot be stopped.

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We want our friends who are imprisoned in the Gezi case to be released on the 1,500th day of unlawfulness.