The march for justice reacted against the ECHR’s slow handling of rights violation cases and political decisions. In front of the ECHR and Council of Europe buildings, the marchers shouted slogans in Turkish and English such as ‘Delayed justice is not justice’, ‘Freedom for journalists’, ‘Victims are here, where is the ECHR?’, ‘Stop torture in Turkey! In addition to the banners describing the lawlessness in Turkey, banners of imprisoned and violated journalists were also carried to demand freedom for journalists.
During the march, demonstrators wearing three monkey costumes made a reference to the ECHR. People imprisoned for tweeting, teaching, baking cakes were shown in cages. Lawyers also entered the cages and explained how they lost their freedom while seeking justice. Freedom was demanded for babies in prison. Famous names such as NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom also supported the protesters.
While the participants of the march from all over Europe called for ‘Take action now’ against the unlawfulness in Turkey, a delegation including the Peaceful Actions Platform and the executives of our association IJA submitted letters to the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) demanding the immediate restoration of justice. Many European parliamentarians also supported the march for justice.
Many members of the International Journalists Association joined the march for justice in front of the ECHR and supported the action. IJA also announced the march for justice to the whole world through live broadcasts, videos, photos and social media posts and became the voice of the victims.
You can watch the summary of the day from the link below: