Academics for Peace: We Request Our Unconditional Reinstatement

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The Academics for Peace released a written statement today (October 4) regarding what happened after the publication of the declaration titled, "We will not be a party to this crime" on January 11, 2016.

The statement underscored that 329 academics have been acquitted by local courts after the decision of the Constitutional Court that said the rights of academics were violated.

"If Turkey is still a state of constitutional law, the 549 signatory academics, whose passports have been restricted and 406 of whom have been dismissed upon statutory decrees must be returned to their duties at the institutions where they worked before January 11, 2016," the statement said.

406 academics were dismissed, 72 resigned, 27 were forced to retire

Saying that they "unjustly" paid a huge price, the academics summed up what has been experienced in the last three-and-a-half years as follows:

* 89 signatories were removed from their jobs after their contracts were either not renewed or terminated.

* 72 signatories had to resign as a result of coming under pressure implicitly or explicitly.

* 27 signatories had to retire for the same reason.

* After the coup attempt on July 15, 2016, 406 signatories, 398 from state universities and eight from foundation universities, were dismissed from their jobs due to statutory decrees without any investigation. Their passports were restricted.

What do the academics demand?

The demands of the Academics for Peace are listed in the statement as follows:

The Council of Higher Education (YÖK) must take the necessary steps for all the signatories whose contracts are not renewed or terminated, who were forced to resign or retire to return to their duties. It should make the necessary correspondence with relevant institutions and ensure that all the signatories return to their duties.
The practice of security investigation which creates obstacles for academics in their employment processes must immediately end. It must be considered that the Constitutional Court also ruled that this practice contradicts the principle of lawfulness and constitutes an intervention in the right to respect private life.
For signatories who were dismissed per the lists that were sent to the YÖK by rectorships, the following demands were made:

-The restrictions on their passports must be removed immediately. The introduction of the requirement of an investigation by the Ministry of Interior in the process of the removal of the restrictions, which was reported in the media, is against the Constitution and unacceptable.

-Those who were dismissed while working as a lecturer, faculty member, expert or research associate employed as per Law No. 2547 -Article 33/a must be ensured to begin working at the institution where they were dismissed from.

-If the mentioned academics do not want to return to the institutions because of what was experienced during the period of dismissal, they must be asked to choose different institutions and must be employed in one of the institutions they chose.

The unpaid wages of the signatories who returned to their duties must be paid without the requirement of an application.

About the Trials of Academics

On 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 September 9, 2019, 640 academics had stood trial since December 5, 2017, all the 204 academics whose cases were concluded were sentenced to prison. 146 of these academics were sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in prison; 8 academics to 1 year and 6 months in prison; 18 academics to 1 year, 10 months and 15 days in prison; 17 academics to 2 years and 3 months in prison; 7 academics to 2 years and 6 months in prison; 5 academics to 2 years and 1 month in prison; and one academic to 3 years in prison.

Non-deferred prison sentences for 36 people

Of these 204 people, the verdicts of conviction of 36 academics in total were not deferred; while the verdicts of 29 people were not deferred as their prison terms are over 2 years (as per the Article 286 of the Law on Criminal Courts), the verdicts of 7 academics were not deferred as they did not accept the deferment of the announcement of their verdicts.

With her 15-month prison sentence upheld by the court of appeal, Academic for Peace Prof. Dr. Füsun Üstel was arrested on May 8, 2019 to be released on July 22.

Constitutional Court said "violation of right"

The General Assembly of the Constitutional Court examined the individual applications of 10 Academics for Peace sentenced to prison on charge of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" for having signed the peace declaration.

On July 26, 2019, the Court ruled that the penalization of Academics for Peace on charge of "terror propaganda" has violated their freedom of expression.

The Court decided that a copy of this judgement shall be sent to all local courts in order to eliminate this right's violation and advised for retrial. The court also ruled to pay each applicant 9 thousand TRY in reparations.

Acquittals

After the new judicial year opened on September 2, the first verdict of acquittal for an Academic for Peace in accordance with the Constitutional Court ruling was given by the İstanbul 30th Heavy Penal Court.

After the Constitutional Court ruled that the freedom of expression of Academics for Peace has been violated, joint and separate verdicts of acquittal have been given for academics at 21 courts in total. These courts are as follows:

İstanbul: 32nd Heavy Penal Court (ACM), 30th ACM, 26th ACM, 36th ACM, 22nd ACM, 28th ACM, 25th ACM, 34th ACM, 37th ACM, 29th ACM, 33rd ACM, 23rd ACM, 24th ACM, 13th ACM, 14th ACM

Diyarbakır: 11th Heavy Penal Court

Ankara: 18th Heavy Penal Court, 22nd ACM

Kocaeli: 5th Heavy Penal Court

Düzce: Düzce Heavy Penal Court

Bursa: 9th Heavy Penal Court

Constitutional Court ruling and its consequences

The ruling of the Constitutional Court stipulates that the local courts shall hold re-trials and give verdicts of acquittal in ongoing cases and for finalized sentences and the courts of appeal shall reverse the judgements in question.

The State of Emergency Commission, which has not yet given its decision regarding the applications of discharged academics, shall also take the Constitutional Court ruling into account. However, it can still give contrary rulings.

In the event that the Commission gives a decision against the academics, they will have the right to appeal to the Council of State. Though the Constitutional Court ruling is binding for the Council of State, any possible failure to withdraw the decisions of discharge will also be examined by the Constitutional Court.

You can reach all news on Trials of Academics here

You can reach the statements of Academics for Peace in English here

(TP/VK)