Belongings of lawyers not related to the investigation were seized. Moreover, images from their digital equipment were not captured, but instead the devices themselves were confiscated. All this evidence obtained unlawfully were used in indictments, arrest warrants and sentences; ■ Accusations were not stated in detail at the time of being detained by the police, even when lawyers reminded law enforcement officers that this is their right; ■ Lawyers were often prevented from seeing their clients, and faced various excuses and difficulties when trying to access their clients in custody and prison; The Ankara March of the Heads ■ Restrictions were imposed on files, and lawyers had to present a defence without knowing the evidence used against their clients; of Bar Associations protesting the changes in the law about Bar Associations. July 29th 2020 (Fotograph: Sibel Tekin Archive) ■ Files that were restricted to lawyers were accessible to the press; and ■ Arrest warrants were routinized. Allegations of torture and ill-treatment during the interrogations of both lawyers themselves and their clients were ignored and testimonies were prevented in some courts. These mostly arbitrary treatments identified by bar associations aggravate the problems for the lawyers while they are merely executing their professional duties. This situation mainly emerged with the State of Emergency conditions. ARBITRARY PRACTICES Arbitrary decisions and practices constitute another dimension of the illegal repressions against lawyers. For example, the Ministry of Justice, disregarding the presumption of innocence, stopped granting licenses to practice law to trainee lawyers who are subject to criminal prosecution.58 This was an attempt to disable lawyers through arbitrary practices of judges and law enforcement agents. A selection of complaints recorded by Lawyers’ Rights Centres of various bar associations in Turkey from several weeks in early months of 2019 serve as examples of these arbitrary practices: ■ “Following the filing of a criminal complaint by the Van 2nd High Criminal Court against lawyer Harika Günay Karataş Kurt due to the defence she submitted in a file at the court, and after an indictment was prepared in absence of an investigation permit, charging her with ‘making propaganda for a terrorist organisation,’ the first hearing was conducted by the Van 2nd High Criminal Court on January 18, 2019, and the hearing was postponed to a later date.” ■ “On February 8, 2019, a disciplinary investigation was launched by the Istanbul Bar Association against Selahattin Demirtaş’s lawyer Ramazan Demir at the request of the Ministry of Justice. A colleague requested that the Lawyers’ 58 For a comprehensive review regarding the individuals who are not admitted to the profession see: Lawyers Without Licenses - Pressures against the Profession of Lawyer after the State of Emergency and Individuals Not Admitted to the Profession (August 2020; Tahir Elçi Foundation): https://www.tahirelcivakfi.org/storage/files/ae36e3a1-90bd-44bf-881708321ade8533/Ruhsatsiz-Avukatlar---INGILIZCE-(1).pdf 30 A DEFENSELESS DEFENSE ARBITR ARY PR ACTICES 31