TRIAL OF ACADEMICS
15-Month Deferred Prison Sentence for two Academics
Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish
Trial of academics, who have been charged with "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" for having signed the declaration entitled "We will not be a party to this crime" prepared by the Academics for Peace, continued in i̇stanbul çağlayan courthouse yesterday (March 13).
The 26th Heavy Penal Court announced a verdict for the first time in the trial of academics. It sentenced an academic to 15 months in prison for terrorist propaganda upon the Anti-Terror Law Article 7/2.
The 32th Heavy Penal Court sentenced an academic to prison for 15 months in the first hearing of the case.
Both courts deferred the announcement of the verdicts.
Yesterday's hearingsHearings of 10 academics were held at two courts. At the 26th Heavy Penal Court: Third hearings of Assoc. Prof. Derya Fırat Şannan and Dr. Lecturer Emre Zeytinoğlu from Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts, postgraduate student Tuğçe Erçetin, Dr. Lecturer M.P. and lecturer Zeynep Altıok from Bilgi University. At the 32th Heavy Penal Court: Second hearing of Assoc. Prof. D.H. from Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, sixth hearing of the Lecturer Emrah Dönmez from Işık University, first hearings of E.B.E. and Assoc. Prof. Hakan Koçak from Kocaeli University, and sixth hearing of Ayten Alkan from İstanbul University. |
Dr. Lecturer M.P. was not present at his/her third hearing at the 26th Heavy Penal Court. The Prosecutor's Office repeated its opinion as to the accusations. M.P.'s attorney stated that his client used his/her right to freedom of speech and requested the acquittal of his client.
Announcing its verdict after the break, the court ruled that M.P. shall be sentenced 15 months in prison for "propagandizing for a terrorist organization."
Prison sentence in first hearing
Academic E.B.E. had his/her first hearing at the 32th Heavy Penal Court. After the his/her attorneys' defense statements, the Prosecutor's Office demanded the defendant be sentenced as per the Anti-Terror Law Article 7/2.
E.B.E.'s attorneys, raising their defense against the Prosecutor's Office's opinion as to the accusations, demanded the acquittal of their client.
E.B.E. said, "I don't think I committed an offense," in his/her last words.
About the Trials of AcademicsOn January 10, 2016, 1,128 academics published a declaration entitled "We will not be party to this crime" on behalf of the Academics for Peace initiative. With the participation of further academics, the number of academics who have signed the declaration has reached 2,212. With the indictment issued by the Prosecutor İsmet Bozkurt, lawsuits were filed against the academics on charge of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" as per the Article No. 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law No. 3713. As of March 13, 2019, 520 academics had stood trial since December 5, 2017, all the 149 academics whose cases were concluded have been sentenced to prison. 108 of these academics were sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in prison; 7 academics to 1 year and 6 months in prison; 14 academics to 1 year, 10 months and 15 days in prison; 15 academics to 2 years and 3 months in prison; two academics have been sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison; one academic has been sentenced to 2 years and 1 month in prison; and one academic to 3 years in prison. The suspension of the pronouncement of the verdict Until today, 12 academics have not accepted that the announcement of their verdicts be deferred. While seven of these academics have been sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in prison, one academic has been sentenced to 1 year and 6 months, one academic to 2 years and 3 months, one academic to 2 years and 6 months and one academic to 3 years in prison. The verdict of one academic has not been pronounced by the court yet. The court board of the 36th Heavy Penal Court has reduced the prison sentences of academics who did not demand the suspension of the pronouncement of their verdicts and deferred their sentences on a 2-year probation. The 32nd Heavy Penal Court has made reductions in the sentences; however, it has not deferred them. The 37th Heavy Penal Court has neither reduced nor deferred the pronouncement of the verdicts. Three academics were not asked about whether they requested the suspension of the pronouncement of their verdicts. While one of these three academics has been sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison, one of them has been sentenced to 1 year and 3 months and the other academic to 2 year and 3 months in prison. The prison sentences of academics, the announcement of whose verdicts has not been suspended since their sentence is over two years, will be taken to the court of appeal. The court of appeal will either uphold or reverse the verdict. On March 10, 2016, the Academics for Peace made a statement for press and shared with the public what they had been going through since the declaration "We will not be a party to this crime" was published. The academics Dr. Lecturer Esra Mungan, Dr. Lecturer Muzaffer Kaya, Assoc. Prof. Dr Kıvanç Ersoy (March 15, 2016) and Dr. Lecturer Meral Camcı (March 31, 2016), who read out the statement for press, were arrested on charge of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" as per the Article No. 7/2 of the Turkish Anti-Terror Law. They were released on April 2016. Upon the request of the Prosecutor's Office, the Ministry of Justice granted a permission of trial as per the Article No. 301 of the Turkish Penal Code No. 301 on charges of "insulting the Turkish Nation, the State of the Republic of Turkey and the institutions and organs of the government." |
* As per the Article 231 of the Law on Criminal Courts (CMK), when a court rules that the announcement of a verdict shall be suspended, the verdict/sentence is removed in the event that the person does not commit an intentional crime in five years.
(TP/VK)