“It is better to be alone in justice than to be with all people in injustice.”
— Mahatma Gandhi
On June 25, we were in Strasbourg. Thousands of people from across Europe gathered once again in front of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), marking the fourth consecutive year of this assembly. Volunteers voiced their quest for justice not only for themselves but also for all the oppressed whose voices have been silenced.
This vigil for justice, organized by the Peacefull Actions Platform, was a gathering of conscience centered around the call for “justice for all.” The shared demand of the crowd was the release of opposition figures such as Osman Kavala, Selahattin Demirtaş, Hidayet Karaca, Ali Ünal, İlhan İşbilen, Mehmet Baransu, Can Atalay, and Ekrem İmamoğlu, as well as elected mayors and tens of thousands of Hizmet volunteers, all of whom remain deprived of their freedom. Despite the Yalçınkaya judgment by the ECtHR, attention was drawn to the fact that hundreds of thousands of people are still unlawfully imprisoned.
At the Strasbourg event, parliamentarians from different European countries delivered powerful messages against the ongoing injustices in Turkey.
French MPs Emmanuel Fernandes and Sandra Regol, both members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), as well as Laura Castel from Spain, Benjamin Dalle and Christophe Lacroix from Belgium, and Vinzenz Glaser from Germany, all stressed that the rule of law violations in Turkey can no longer be ignored.
Although French MP Marietta Karamanli had previously confirmed her attendance, she was unable to join at the last moment.
Other contributors to the event included U.S. activist Enes Kanter Freedom, French lawyer Anaïs Lefort from the Paris Bar, Dag Aakre of the Church of Norway Council on Ecumenical and International Relations, Norwegian writer Odd Anders With, and French activist Valérie Thatcher from Lyon.
Yet among all these speeches, there was one voice that spoke not to the crowd, but directly to the hearts.
Dismissed Judge Sevda Güven was not merely delivering a speech—she was giving voice to resistance, to the silent cry of conscience, and to the lament of a mother.
Her words etched themselves into the hearts of everyone present and will continue to echo in all who refuse to let their conscience grow cold:
“I am here to be the voice of the voiceless, to take a stand in the struggle for rights and justice.”
Sevda Hanım’s story is also the story of a painful farewell to a life partner. Her husband, Police Chief Zeki Güven, graduated top of his class from the Police Academy in 1992 and served with unwavering dedication during his years in Ankara. While serving as Deputy Police Chief in Şırnak, his team was recognized as the most successful police force of the year, and he personally received an award from then-President Abdullah Gül.
Zeki Güven had only one goal: to work day and night for the safety of his country. Often, he would spend nights at the station without returning home, grateful for every morning in Ankara without a bomb attack. Yet from 2014 onwards, investigations were launched against him, a warrant was issued in early 2015, and he spent years in hiding until 2018.
Then came his unjust arrest, despite his struggle for justice. In a letter to his wife from Samsun Prison, he wrote that he never ate without first washing his meals. Forty days later, a cold coffin emerged from Sincan Prison. The Leviathan had devoured yet another of its children.
A man who never smoked a cigarette, who would not harm even an ant, was gone—leaving behind a grieving wife and two children: 22-year-old medical student Ahmet Zihni and 10-year-old Zehra Reyyan.
Those who knew him remember the composure he carried on the day he was detained: calm, dignified, smiling. A face that always radiated kindness—except during prayer. As his loved ones put it:
“He never carried a gun, and the only time he didn’t smile was when he prayed.”
That day in Strasbourg, we heard countless speeches and slogans. But what left the deepest mark on my mind was Judge Sevda Güven’s resolute, dignified, and oppressed stance. Every word she spoke was a cry for justice, resonating with the emotions of thousands.
That cry was not only for a husband but for all those subjected to extrajudicial persecution in an era of lawlessness.
In the eyes of those who joined the march for justice, I saw determination and courage. I witnessed heartfelt embraces between old friends reunited after years, and I saw tears flowing during live connections with those who could not attend.
Justice will come—sooner or later.
And those responsible will be held accountable, first before the courts of law, and then before the unfailing scales of truth.
Many trials unseen on earth will surely be held in that ultimate, unfaltering court—
For there exists a true tribunal where even the weight of a mustard seed of injustice finds its rightful place.
But until that day comes…
As Thomas Jefferson said:
“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.”
