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International Human Rights Advisors sign Joint Letter to Mr Yılmaz Tunç, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Türkiye, on 3 October 2025

Your Excellency,
We, the undersigned organisations, write to you to express our deep concern regarding the situation of lawyer Süleyman Yıldırım, a member of the Denizli Bar Association, who is currently in critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a state hospital.

According to the information received:

  • Mr. Yıldırım was held in pretrial detention from 23 March 2017 to 19 December 2017, and was convicted on 04 July 2018 by the Denizli 2nd Assize Court of membership in an armed terrorist organisation on the basis of alleged ByLock use and ordinary banking transactions. His conviction was later upheld.
  • On 27 July 2025, while receiving treatment at Acıpayam State Hospital, Mr. Yıldırım was detained and transferred to Denizli T-Type Prison. He was kept there for two months without adequate medical treatment.
  • On 6 September 2025, after his condition deteriorated, he was transferred to the ICU of Denizli State Hospital, where he has remained for nearly three weeks. He underwent heart surgery and has suffered severe complications, including blood clot in the heart,
    risk of amputation of his legs, and fluid in his lungs.
  • Doctors at Denizli State Hospital have issued medical reports stating that Mr. Yıldırım is not fit to remain in prison and that he cannot travel even for medical control, stressing that his condition is extremely serious and that there is a high risk of death.

Despite this, the Istanbul Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK) has reportedly insisted that he should be brought to Istanbul for further evaluation, in disregard of the local doctors’ medical opinion. It is particularly regrettable that Mr. Yıldırım remains imprisoned despite the European Court of Human Rights’ Grand Chamber judgment in Yalçınkaya v. Turkey (26 September 2023), which found that reliance on ByLock data as decisive evidence of organisational membership violates the European Convention on Human Rights.

The detention of a lawyer in such life-threatening medical condition, coupled with denial of timely and appropriate medical care, raises grave concerns of violations of Articles 2 and 3 ECHR that protect the right to life and prohibit inhuman or degrading treatment. We respectfully recall that Turkey is bound by its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights and international standards, including the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers. We therefore respectfully urge you to:

  • Ensure the suspension of execution of sentence imposed upon Mr. Süleyman Yıldırım
    on medical grounds so that he may receive adequate treatment.
  • Ensure full compliance with the medical recommendations of the treating doctors in
    Denizli.
  • Guarantee that lawyers in Turkey are not subjected to persecution, intimidation, or
    imprisonment for their professional activities or the exercise of their fundamental
    rights.

We trust that the Turkish authorities will take urgent steps to protect Mr. Yıldırım’s life and health and uphold the rule of law.

Yours sincerely,

  1. Avocats Sans Frontières (Belgium)
  2. Association Défense Sans frontière – Avocats Solidaires (France)
  3. European Lawyers Foundation (Italy)
  4. European Criminal Bar Association (The Netherlands)
  5. Human Rights Defenders e.V (Germany)
  6. Human Rights Solidarity (The United Kingdom)
  7. International Human Rights Advisors (The United Kingdom)
  8. International Observatory for Lawyers in
    Danger (France)
  9. Lawyers Against Transnational Repression
  10. Italian Federation for Human Rights (Italy)
  11. Justice Abroad (The United Kingdom)
  12. Monitoring Committee on Attacks on Lawyers, International Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL)
  13. Solidarity With OTHERS (Belgium)
  14. The Arrested Lawyers Initiative (Belgium)
  15. Turkey Tribunal (Belgium)
  16. Weltanwälte e.V. (Germany)

Image: ©Bayk

About the Authors

Ben Keith Barrister

Ben Keith is a co-founder of IHR Advisors and an internationally recognised lawyer specialising in INTERPOL Red Notice challenges, extradition, international human rights law and asylum. He is the co-author of Interpol, Law and Practice (Sweet & Maxwell, 2026). He is co-editor of Red Notice Monitor, the leading public resource on INTERPOL Red Notice abuse and the practice of INTERPOL’s Commission for the Control of Files.

Ben represents clients across every region in INTERPOL Red Notice and Diffusion challenges before the Commission for the Control of Files. He has secured the deletion of Notices issued by states including Russia, China, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Belarus, Iran and Venezuela, in cases involving journalists, opposition political figures, refugees, human rights defenders and business figures targeted in commercial and political disputes. He is the author of the INTERPOL chapter in The Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations (Global Investigations Review, 2026).

Ben has appeared as counsel before the European Court of Human Rights Grand Chamber, the UK Supreme Court, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and the UN Committee Against Torture. He is a member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court and the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague.

He regularly acts for politically exposed persons, journalists, human rights defenders and high net worth individuals facing extradition, INTERPOL Notices and other instruments of transnational repression. He provides legal commentary to national and international media including the Guardian, The Times, the Financial Times, The Telegraph, the BBC, Sky News, CNN, CBS 60 Minutes, The Economist, Politico and Al Jazeera.

Ben is ranked Star Individual in Chambers and Partners and a leading individual in The Legal 500 for extradition. He practises from 5 St Andrew’s Hill in London.

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Rhys Davies Barrister

Rhys Davies is a co-founder of IHR Advisors and an internationally recognised lawyer specialising in INTERPOL Red Notice challenges, international criminal law and international human rights law. He is the co-author of Interpol, Law and Practice (Sweet & Maxwell, 2026). He is co-editor of Red Notice Monitor, the leading public resource on INTERPOL Red Notice abuse and the practice of INTERPOL’s Commission for the Control of Files.

Rhys co-authored the report Undue Influence: the UAE and INTERPOL with Sir David Calvert-Smith, examining the systemic misuse of INTERPOL’s Notice and Diffusion systems by the United Arab Emirates and the implications for INTERPOL’s governance. He represents clients in INTERPOL Red Notice challenges before the Commission for the Control of Files, with particular focus on cases involving Middle Eastern and Central Asian states, and on the position of refugees, journalists and political dissidents targeted through INTERPOL by their states of origin.

Rhys has significant experience of in-country legal advice and assistance, most recently in the West Bank, and a specific interest in the Middle East. He is a member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. He regularly speaks at, and chairs, events at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva and at the House of Commons on matters of international law.

Rhys is the author of numerous articles on INTERPOL Red Notice practice and on justice in the Middle East, and is in demand as a commentator on international human rights. He provides legal commentary to national and international media including The Times, the Guardian, the Independent, the Financial Times, CBS 60 Minutes, Sky News, City AM and Al Jazeera.

Rhys is recommended as a leading individual in The Legal 500. He practises from Temple Garden Chambers in London and The Hague.

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