A Brighton University graduate is on hunger strike in Turkey after she was detained by police having travelled there to protest against the NATO summit in Ankara last week.
Ella Vivier, a 26-year-old neuroscience graduate, from Brighton, is a support worker with vulnerable children.
She went to the Turkish capital after at the request of political organisations, civil society groups and trade unions there to oppose the summit which started last Tuesday (7 July).
It was attended by world leaders including the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and the American President Donald Trump.
Ms Vivier was detained at about 9pm on Sunday 5 July, along with three other protesters, according to her legal representatives in Ankara, Suheyla Oguz and Senem Doganoglu, and all four went on hunger strike on Monday.
Her legal representatives told the Press Association: “At the time of her detention, no reason or legal basis for the detention was explained to her.
“We were only later informed by the authorities that the investigation concerns an allegation of membership of an illegal organisation.
“However, our examination of the investigation file has revealed no evidence supporting this allegation and no factual basis for the accusation has been disclosed to the defence.”
Ms Vivier has not been charged with any crime and an investigation is being conducted on suspicion of “initiating provocative actions during the Nato summit”, her legal representatives said.
But they believe that there is no offence defined under Turkish criminal law as “initiating provocative actions”.
Ms Oguz said: “In our legal opinion, there are serious concerns regarding the lawfulness of the detention. Ella was not informed of the reasons for her detention at the time she was apprehended.”
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said: “We are supporting the family of a British woman detained in Turkey and are in contact with the local authorities.”
Ms Vivier’s partner, who asked not to be named, has not been able to make contact with her.
Her partner said: “No one, except the lawyer, has been allowed (to talk to her). She’s been held in a counter-terror cell. Even the embassy haven’t been able to speak to her directly.”
“It’s been a completely unlawful detention. Her and the three other internationalists that she was arrested with were arrested pre-emptively before the summit had started, so before even taking part in any of the protests, so she hadn’t committed any crime.
“It’s been a purely preventative detention which we consider to be in violation of fundamental human rights.
