Attorney Seda Başay-Yıldız
Languages: German, Turkish, English
Seda Başay-Yıldız has practised as an attorney in Frankfurt am Main since 2003 and is a certified specialist in criminal law (Fachanwältin für Strafrecht). She defends suspects and defendants in criminal and regulatory offence proceedings and equally represents victims and joint plaintiffs.
She became known nationwide as joint-plaintiff counsel for the family of Enver Şimşek, the first murder victim of the far-right terrorist network "National Socialist Underground" (NSU), in the NSU trial before the Munich Higher Regional Court (2013–2018). Since the racially motivated attack in Hanau in February 2020, she has also represented relatives of several victims' families. She is a regular interlocutor for policymakers.
This experience from some of the most significant criminal proceedings in recent German legal history continues to shape her work today: consistent, independent, and with particular sensitivity to the perspective of those affected.
Career
- since 2003Attorney in Frankfurt am Main; later certified specialist in criminal law.
- 2013–2018Joint-plaintiff counsel for the Şimşek family in the NSU trial before the Munich Higher Regional Court.
- 2017–2018Joint-plaintiff counsel for the mother of Hüseyin Dayıcık in the proceedings over the attack at the Munich Olympia shopping centre (OEZ).
- since 2020Representation of relatives of victims of the racist attack in Hanau.
- 2023Successful constitutional complaint against parts of the Hessian Security and Public Order Act (HSOG) before the Federal Constitutional Court, together with the Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte.
- 2025Joint-plaintiff counsel in the trial over the Solingen arson attack before the Wuppertal Regional Court.
Selected cases
Joint-plaintiff and victim representation
- NSU trial (Munich Higher Regional Court, 2013–2018): Representation of the family of Enver Şimşek, killed on 11 September 2000 as the first victim of the NSU's racist murder series. She pressed for further investigation of possible accomplices and of how victims were selected, and named failures by the investigating authorities.
- Munich Olympia shopping centre attack (2016): Representation of the mother of 17-year-old Hüseyin Dayıcık in the criminal proceedings against the weapons seller.
- Hanau attack (since 2020): Representation of the families of Sedat Gürbüz, Fatih Saraçoğlu and Gökhan Gültekin, three of the ten people killed on 19 February 2020.
- Solingen arson attack (Wuppertal Regional Court, from January 2025): Representation of survivors and relatives of the victims of the arson attack of 25 March 2024, in which a family of four, including two young children, died. She presented evidence pointing to the defendant's far-right views, including racist writings, chat messages and Nazi literature, and criticised serious failings in the investigation. On 30 July 2025 the court sentenced the defendant to life imprisonment, found particular severity of guilt and ordered preventive detention.
- Winterhoff proceedings (Bonn Regional Court, 2025–2026): Representation of affected persons as joint plaintiffs in the criminal proceedings against child psychiatrist Michael Winterhoff.
Awards
Dachau Prize for Civil Courage
The jury honoured her "uncomfortable, thankless and unfortunately also dangerous" work for the rule of law.
Ludwig Beck Prize for Civil Courage
Presented in July 2021; the laudatory speech was given by journalist Dunja Hayali.
Georg Elser Prize
For civil courage and her stand against undemocratic structures.
Scholl-Grimminger Prize
For her commitment to democracy and the rule of law.
Advocacy for fundamental rights
Seda Başay-Yıldız is a member of the Republican Lawyers' Association (RAV), of the association Deutsche Strafverteidiger e. V. (German Criminal Defence Lawyers) and of the Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte (GFF), and a member of the Board of Trustees of medico international. With the GFF she filed a constitutional complaint against automated data analysis under the Hessian Security and Public Order Act. On 16 February 2023 the Federal Constitutional Court declared the provision partly unconstitutional. A further complaint followed in 2024 because the state had not adequately implemented the ruling. She also challenges the use of state spyware by the intelligence services.
Her principle: fundamental rights apply to everyone. A fair trial, including for defendants in terrorism cases, is a precondition of the rule of law, not a threat to it.
Teaching
Lecturer at the Deutsche Journalistenschule (German School of Journalism) in Munich.