1 Academic Sentenced to 1 Year, 6 Months in Prison; Announcement of Verdict Not Deferred

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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 (December 13).

Nine academics had their hearings at two separate courts:

At the İstanbul 26th Heavy Penal Court: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Osman Cengiz Aktar from Süleyman Şah University had his second hearing.

At the İstanbul 37th Heavy Penal Court: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ceren Sözeri and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Buket Türkmen from Galatasaray University, Prof. Dr. Şebnem Korur Fincancı from İstanbul University, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Melis Behlil from Kadir Has University, Lecturer Mahmut Çınar from Bahçeşehir University, Dr. Lecturer Lütfiye Bozdağ from Kemerburgaz University and Lecturer Nur Mardin retired from Boğaziçi University had their third hearings; Research Assistant Sami Cankat Tanrıverdi from İstanbul University had their fourth hearings.

15-month deferred prison sentence for 5 academics

The court board ruled that academics Sami Cankat Tanrıverdi,, Ceren Sözeri, Buket Türkmen, Melis Behlil and Mahmut Çınar shall be sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in prison on charge of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" as per the Article no. 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMK).

The announcement of the verdicts has been deferred.

One academic sentenced to 1 year, 6 months in prison

Lütfiye Bozdağ, who did not accept the suspension of the pronouncement of the verdict, has been sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison.

The court board did not reduce her prison sentence on the ground that "she did not show remorse." The board also did not defer the announcement of the verdict on the ground that "there has formed no conviction that the defendant will abstain from committing offense."

Report by TİHV presented as evidence

At the hearing of Şebnem Korur Fincancı, Chair of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV), for whom the Prosecutor's Office had announced its opinion as to the accusations, Presiding Judge stated that new evidence was added to her case file:

"The interview given by the defendant to Özgür Gündem newspaper on December 12, 2018; her interview to Evrensel newspaper on December 21, 2015; and preliminary survey report prepared by the TİHV based on limited observation during her visit to Cizre (in Şırnak) as Chair of of the foundation have been added to her file as evidence."

Attorney Meriç Eyüboğlu stated that the evidence was added to the file on the day when the hearing was held and requested additional time. The hearing was adjourned to December 19, 2018.

What happened?

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 December 13, 2018, 428 academics had stood trial since December 5, 2017. 55 of these academics were sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in prison; 3 academics were sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison and one academic has been sentenced to 2 years and 3 months in prison.

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 above-mentioned 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." (TP/SD)