A Turkish court on Sept. 21 jailed on terror charges 14 lawyers representing two detained educators who have been on hunger strike for six months after being sacked in a mass crackdown.
Nuriye Gülmen, a literature professor, and Semih Özakça, a primary school teacher, have been on hunger strike for more than six months after they lost their jobs in a crackdown following a failed coup against Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan. On March 9, they went on a hunger strike to challenge their dismissal and were arrested in May on charges of membership of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), an outlawed leftist group that has carried out sporadic attacks.
Sixteen lawyers from the Office of People's Rights (HHB) that represents them were initially detained two days before the start of the trial.
After questioning, the court ordered 14 of the lawyers to be imprisoned on charges of "membership of an armed terror group." Two were allowed to go free. They are accused of links to the DHKP-C.
