Istanbul - A Turkish court on Friday dropped a case against dozens of doctors who treated protesters during nationwide anti-government demonstrations in 2013, local media said.
The Health Ministry had filed a lawsuit against the doctors for setting up makeshift clinics for thousands of protesters wounded during the protests and for refusing to share personal information with the government on the protesters they treated.
The ministry had also accused the doctors of "praising the criminals."
The Ankara court threw out the case after hearing several witnesses, including two opposition lawmakers and Metin Feyzioglu, the president of the Turkish Bar Association, Dogan news agency reported.
Feyzioglu told the court that the efforts of the doctors had saved "hundreds of lives" and that they should be "thanked," "not punished."
The Turkish Union of Doctors (TTB) released a statement following the decision and said doctors were "performing their ethical duty" to provide care for patients and ensure their confidentiality.
"This shameful case has finally come to an end. Providing care for the service of humanity cannot be considered a crime," it said.
A relatively small environmentalist movement fighting to save Istanbul's Gezi Park from an urban development scheme spiralled into a nationwide wave of protests in May-June 2013 against the perceived authoritarian tendencies of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, then premier.
According to TTB, eight people died and thousands were injured in ensuing violence as police launched a brutal crackdown, frequently employing tear gas and water cannon.
In January last year, Turkey passed a law making it a crime for doctors to provide emergency first aid without a permit, which critics said was an attempt to block doctors from treating protesters.
A new law is currently being debated in parliament that would boost police powers against protesters, which the opposition says will effectively create a police state under Erdogan.
Several trials related to the protests are still taking place across the country, including a handful of cases of police accused of killing protesters.
According to a 2014 report by Amnesty International, more than 5,500 people have been prosecuted in connection with the Gezi Park protests.
AFP
