The new administration of the Istanbul Bar, implemented the controversial decision by the Bar Association and banned Eren Keskin from serving as a lawyer for a year. Keskin, who served as the head of the Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD), is currently the deputy chair of the organization.

According to Keskin, this decision is the "direct result of the pro status-quo mentality and militarist viewpoint of the new administration and the Bar Association".

Keskin will apply to court to halt the execution of the Bar Association's decision.

In a country where thinking is a crime...

Eren Keskin, former chair of the Istanbul IHD, and its current deputy-chair - stood trial at the Istanbul State Security Court (DGM) in 1995, because of some things she said during an interview. The DGM had sentenced Keskin to prison, basing its decision on article 8 of the Turkish terror law.

Keskin served her time in the Bayrampasa prison. And now, seven years after the incident, she is banned from serving as a lawyer for a year, as the Istanbul Bar implements the decision by the Turkish Bar Association.

Keskin had been sentenced to prison because of what she said about militarism during an interview published by the Medya Gunesi (media sun) magazine in 1995.

"In a country where thinking is a crime, it is very painful to see that the jurists also consider thinking as a crime," said Keskin.

"This decision is the direct results of the presence of militarism in Turkey, a reality that is never questioned or discussed."

The former administration had rejected the decision

Keskin said the following about the fact that the Bars Association made the decision of detracting her seven years after she was sentenced to prison:

"The Bar Association made this decision and notified the Istanbul Bar at a time when my speech in Cologne, on molestation and rape under custody in Turkey, appeared in the media. Journalist Fatih Altayli of mainstream Hurriyet also started attacking me through his column in a daily newspaper at the time.

The former administration had rejected this decision. But after the administration changed, the Bar Association took the decision once again and notified the Istanbul Bar's new administration. The new administration implemented the decision."

Keskin criticized the Bar Association and Istanbul Bar for being pro- status quo.

"This decision is the result of our losing out the bar," she said.

Keskin is getting prepared to take the case to court in order to halt the execution of the decision.

Keskin reminded the fact that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has a political ban.

"In a country like this, it is not at all surprising that I may not carry out my job freely," she said. (BB/EA/NM)