In mid-November, the emblematic hunger strike of Turkish teachers Nuriye Gulmen and Semih Ozakca passed the 250-day mark. Gulmen, a literature professor, and Ozakca, a primary school teacher, lost their jobs in the massive purges that followed the failed coup attempt in July 2016. Their protest to get their jobs back began as a sit-in in downtown Ankara a year ago and then turned into a hunger strike, landing them behind bars in May on terrorism-related charges. Since then, Gulmen has been transferred to hospital detention, while Ozakca has been placed under house arrest.

The pair’s saga also has sucked in their lawyers. On Nov. 13, Selcuk Kozagacli became their 18th attorney to land behind bars.

Kozagacli — who used to chair the Progressive Lawyers Association, one of the many civic groups Ankara has shut down since the putsch — is a well-known lawyer whose legal battles have covered a wide range of human rights issues, from torture and maltreatment to the 2014 mine disaster in which 301 workers perished. He was jailed pending trial on charges of belonging to an outlawed organization, based on incriminating testimony by a secret witness.

According to his lawyer Serhat Cakmak — who is also the spokesman of the Libertarian Lawyers Platform — the evidence used to incarcerate Kozagacli is unlawful. “The purpose of his arrest is to suppress dissidence in society,” Cakmak told Al-Monitor.