47th Hearing Held in Trial of Academics
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The trial of retired chemistry professor from Marmara University Melda Tunçay was held at the 36th Heavy Penal Court. Tunçay’s colleagues and lawyers attended the hearing.
In his statement of defense, Tunçay said that he signed the declaration with humanitarian considerations. His lawyers demanded his acquittal.
The signatory academics are charged with "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" in the indictment prepared by prosecutor İsmet Bozkurt.
Today's hearing was the 47th hearing held thus far.
Prosecutor: "Is PKK a terrorist organization?"
The prosecutor asked Tunçay, "Is the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) a terrorist organization?". Lawyer Arın Gül Yeniaras objected, saying "This is not a legal question". The chief judge and prosecutor said, "the defence shall not interfere".
"I am not a political scientist. I perceived this as a call for peace as a whole. I signed it with a humanitarian sensibility", Tunçay replied.
When the prosecutor repeated the question, Yeniaras said, "We act in line with the law, not arbitrarily". Lawyer Mehmet Ümit Erdem said, "No one can be forced to express his or her opinions or thoughts according to Constitution Article 205/2. No organization is mentioned in the indictment. This question is the question that brought Tahir Elçi to his death".
The prosecutor read out the statements in the declaration such as "The massacre carried out against the people in the region", "deportation policies" and asked, "Is the Republic of Turkey massacring and deporting people in the East and Southeast?" Lawyer Erdem objected to the question.
Tunçay replied, "I cannot agree with everything written there word by word, but I signed it because I want peace". Turning to Tunçay, the prosecutor thanked him.
Charges
According to the indictment prepared by Prosecutor İsmet Bozkurt, the academics are being charged with "Making Propaganda for a Terrorist Organisation", based on the Article 7/2 of the Turkish Anti-Terror Act and Article 53 of the Turkish Penal Code.
Each academic face up to 7.5 years in prison. The investigation is carried out by İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.
Turkish Anti-Terror ActArticle 7(2)Any person making propaganda for a terrorist organisation shall be punished with imprisonment from one to five years. If this crime is committed through means of mass media, the penalty shall be aggravated by one half. In addition, editors-in-chief (...)2 |
According to the indictment, the evidences regarding the alleged crime are;
• The investigation report that concerns the statement of Bese Hozat--the co-president of the PKK/KCK terrorist organization's executive committee--that is dated December 27, 2015.-;
• The investigation reports on the academics who signed the petition (suspects) concerning the press declarations on January 11, 2016 (first declaration) and March 10, 2016 (second declaration) that are allegedly of a supportive nature in favour of PKK/KCK terrorist organization;
• Records of statement and interrogation reports of the suspects and the arrest warrants issued for them.
148 academics who are among the first ones of the 1,128 academics to stand trial are from the following universities:
Galatasaray University, İstanbul University, Yıldız Teknik University, İstanbul Teknik University, Marmara University, Boğaziçi University, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Yeni Yüzyıl University, Apriltaşı University, Kadir Has University, Özyeğin University, Bahçeşehir University, Kemerburgaz University, Arel University and Işık University.
Schedule of the trials of 148 academics5 December 2017 - Galatasaray University (6 academics), İstanbul University (4 academics) before İstanbul 35th Assize Court. 7 December 2017 – Galatasaray University (3 academics), İstanbul University (8 academics) before İstanbul 32th Assize Court. 7 December 2017 – Galatasaray University (3 academics), İstanbul University (8 academics) before İstanbul 33th Assize Court. 7 December 2017 – Galatasaray University (6 academics), İstanbul University (6 academics) before İstanbul 34th Assize Court. 7 December 2017 – İstanbul University (1 academic) before İstanbul 36th Assize Court. 14 December 2017 – İstanbul University (1 academic) before İstanbul 36th Assize Court. 19 December 2017 – Yıldız Teknik University (1 academic), İstanbul Teknik University (1 academic) before İstanbul 36th Assize Court. 21 December 2017 – Marmara University (5 academics), Yıldız Teknik University (2 academics) before İstanbul 33th Assize Court. 21 December 2017 – Galatasaray University (1 academic), İstanbul University (5 academics) before İstanbul 36th Assize Court. 26 December 2017 – Boğaziçi University (1 academic), Mimar Sinan Güzel Sanatlar University (1 academic),, Yeni Yüzyıl University (1 academic), Apriltaşı University (1 academic) before İstanbul 13th Assize Court. 26 December 2017 – İstanbul University (3 academics) before İstanbul 36th Assize Court . 11 January 2018 – Kadir Has University (2 academics) before İstanbul 35 th Assize Court . 30 January 2018 – Marmara University (5 academics), Yıldız Teknik University (3 academics), İstanbul Teknik University (4 academics), Özyeğin University (1 academic) before İstanbul 32nd Assize Court. 6 February 2018 – Marmara University (1 academic) before İstanbul 34th Assize Court. 13 February 2018 – Marmara University (3 academics), Özyeğin University (2 academics), Kadir Has University (3 academics), Yıldız Teknik University (1 academic) before İstanbul 34th Assize Court. 15 February 2018 – Kadir Has University (1 academic) before İstanbul 36th Assize Court. 22 February 2018 – Bahçeşehir University (1 academic), Kemerburgaz University (1 academic) before İstanbul 36th Assize Court. 27 February 2018 – Kemerburgaz University (1 academic), Apriltaşı University (1 academic), Kadir Has University (1 academic) before İstanbul 35th Assize Court. 1 March 2018 – İstanbul University (3 academics) before İstanbul 37. Assize Court. 6 March 2018 – İstanbul University (3 academics), Galatasaray University (1 academic) before İstanbul 37th Assize Court. 8 March 2018 – Galatasaray University (2 academics), İstanbul University (2 academics) before İstanbul 37. Assize Court. 13 March 2018 – Galatasaray University (2 academics), İstanbul University (1 academic) before İstanbul 37th Assize Court. 16 March 2018 – Kadir Has University (3 academics), Bahçeşehir University (1 academic) before İstanbul 33th Assize Court. 20 March 2018 – Marmara University (2 academics) before İstanbul 37th Assize Court. 22 March 2018 – Marmara University (1 academic) before İstanbul 37th Assize Court. 27 March 2018 – Marmara University (1 academic) before İstanbul 37th Assize Court. 29 March 2018 - Marmara University (1 academic) before İstanbul 37th Assize Court. 3 April 2018 – Kadir Has University (1 academic), Kemerburgaz University (1 academic) İstanbul 32nd Assize Court. 5 April 2018 – Yıldız Teknik University (1 academic)), İstanbul Teknik University (1 academic) before İstanbul 32nd Assize Court. 26 April 2018 – Arel University (1 academic) before İstanbul 37th Assize Court. 3 May 2018 – Kadir Has University (1 academic), Bahçeşehir University (1 academic) before İstanbul 37th Assize Court. 8 May 2018 – Kadir Has University (1 academic), Işık University (1 academic) before İstanbul 37th Assize Court. 15 May 2018 – Kadir Has University (2 academics) before İstanbul 37th Assize Court. 17 May 2018 - Bahçeşehir University (1 academic) before İstanbul 37th Assize Court. |
The Peace Declaration of the Academics "We will not be a party to this crime" was shared with the public on January 11, 2016 in a press conference. 1,128 academics from 89 universities as well as over 355 academics and researchers from abroad had signed the peace declaration.
(BK/TK/LN)