If a criminal case has been opened against you, your country may ask another state, through “letters rogatory,” to take certain procedural steps concerning you.

This means that:

A court or prosecutor’s office in the country where you are located is being asked to take your statement, hear you as a witness, or collect certain information and documents about you.

This is a very serious matter, especially in politically sensitive cases.

The critical point is this:

The idea that “I have not committed any crime; I will simply explain everything” is highly risky.

The aim should not be to give a statement, but to ensure that the request is refused from the outset by demonstrating that it is political in nature.

Why Is It Risky to Say “I Have Not Committed Any Crime; I Will Explain Everything”?

Many people’s first reaction is to think:

“I have not committed any crime; if I explain everything, they will understand.”

This may seem reasonable in an ordinary criminal case. However, in politically sensitive cases with an international dimension, the situation is different.

A letter rogatory request is often made to strengthen the criminal case file of the requesting state.

The statement you give may be used as evidence against you in Türkiye or in the requesting country.

In politically structured proceedings in particular, statements are often used by:

taking sentences out of context;
presenting them as a “confession” or “admission”;
combining them with other evidence to strengthen allegations of membership of an organisation, aiding an organisation, or propaganda.

For this reason:

If there is a letter rogatory request concerning you, you should not see it as an opportunity to explain your innocence, but rather as an attempt to compel you to provide evidence for a politically motivated prosecution.

What Should the Aim Be? Protection Through Refusal of the Request, Not Through Giving a Statement

In political cases, the main objective should be this:

To ensure that the court or prosecutor’s office in the country where you are located refuses the letter rogatory request and returns the file without taking any statement, on the grounds that the request is political in nature and raises human rights concerns.

In other words:

The strategy should not be, “I will give a statement and explain myself.”

Instead, the strategy should be to strengthen the argument that:

“This letter rogatory request is political and open to abuse; therefore, evidence should not be provided for this investigation.”

It should be understood that this approach is consistent with:

the political offence exception;
and international human rights standards.

Important Legal Background: Why Is the Statement So Critical?

There is an important reality in Turkish criminal proceedings:

As a general rule, it is not possible to convict an accused person without taking their statement.

By contrast, it is possible to acquit a person without taking their statement.

What does this mean?

If a court is seeking the accused person’s statement, it is often trying to complete the file in a way that may lead to conviction, and it may intend to use the statement to “complete” the case file.

This can be viewed as follows:

If the court intended to acquit the person, it could issue a decision without needing the statement.

But if your statement is being requested through letters rogatory, it should often be considered as part of a possible conviction scenario.

This shows why you must be extremely cautious about giving a statement.

Why Is It So Important to Explain That the Letter Rogatory Request Is Political?

When the authorities of the requested state, such as a court or prosecutor’s office, assess a letter rogatory request, they may ask the following questions:

Is this file genuinely about an ordinary criminal offence, or is it a politically motivated prosecution?

Are there serious problems in the requesting country regarding:

judicial independence;
the right to a fair trial;
the risk of torture and ill-treatment?

Is the requested act, such as taking a statement or collecting information and documents, being used to punish and silence the person because of their political opinion, identity, belief or peaceful activities?

If the court or prosecutor reaches the conclusion that:

“This file is essentially political; we cannot contribute to such a prosecution by providing evidence,”

then it may refuse the letter rogatory request without taking a statement or carrying out any further action.

As a result:

your statement will not be taken, so it cannot be used to support a conviction;
and the country where you are located will not give legitimacy to this political prosecution.

What Should You Do? Practical Steps

a) Do Not Act Alone

First of all:

if you receive a notification concerning a letter rogatory request;
or if you learn that such a request may have been made concerning you,

you should work with a lawyer in the country where you are located, preferably one experienced in:

criminal law;
extradition and mutual legal assistance;
human rights and asylum law.

b) Prepare a Framework Showing the Political Nature of the File

It is not enough simply to tell the court or prosecutor:

“This is a political case; I am innocent.”

This must be supported with documents and a systematic explanation.

This may include:

Country conditions:

ECtHR judgments;
UN and international organisation reports;
reports of human rights organisations.

Your personal circumstances:

your profession, such as teacher, judge, prosecutor, police officer, businessperson, journalist or NGO worker;
the nature of the investigations against you, such as membership of an organisation, depositing money in a bank, union membership, association with a school, association, university, or social media posts;
practices such as detention, torture, decree-law dismissal, confiscation of assets or passport cancellation.

Previous similar cases:

foreign court decisions refusing extradition or letters rogatory requests;
case-law recognising the political nature of similar proceedings.

The aim should be to establish the following:

“Although this file appears to be a criminal case, it is in reality part of a politically motivated mass prosecution. Your court should not become complicit in this prosecution by providing evidence.”

c) Determine the Strategy of Refusing or Limiting a Statement Together With Your Lawyer

In some countries:

there may be compulsory rules concerning testimony or the giving of a statement;
the scope of the right to remain silent may vary.

For this reason:

decisions such as “I will not give any statement” or “I will only provide my identity information and remain silent” must be assessed together with your local lawyer.

The basic principle should be this:

Your strategy should not be built around giving a statement, but around demonstrating the political nature of the request and ensuring that it is refused without being executed.

d) Do Not Contradict Your Asylum File; Strengthen It Instead

If you have:

refugee or protection status;
or a pending asylum application,

this may be used as an active argument in the letter rogatory process:

“This person has already sought protection in this country due to political pressure. Providing evidence for the criminal prosecution against them would contradict the logic of the asylum system.”

For this reason:

the statements and arguments in your asylum file and those used in the letter rogatory process must support each other and must never contradict one another.

The Aim Is Not to Give a Statement, but to Secure Refusal of the Request

In summary:

If there is a letter rogatory request concerning you, do not underestimate it.

The approach that “I have not done anything wrong, so I will simply explain myself” may have serious consequences in political cases.

The main objective should be for the court or prosecutor in the country where you are located to recognise that:

the file is political in nature;
the extradition or mutual legal assistance system is being misused for political purposes;
your rights are at serious risk;
and the letter rogatory request should therefore be refused without taking your statement.