TRIAL OF ACADEMICS

Academic Sentenced to 2 Years, 1 Month in Prison

Academic Gevher Gökçe has been sentenced to 2 years and 1 month in prison on charge of “aiding a terrorist organization as a non-member.” The prison sentence of the academic has not been deferred.

Tansu Pişkin

Academic Sentenced to 2 Years, 1 Month in Prison

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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 (March 26).

At the İstanbul 25th Heavy Penal Court, Ayşe Gül Altınay from Sabancı University had her third hearing; Dr. Lecturer Gevher Gökçe, a former academic at the Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts (MSGSÜ) had her second hearing; Prof. Dr. Taha Karaman from Akdeniz University, Güneş Kan Yukuş from Mardin Artuklu University and Research Assistant Serap Sarıtaş from Dokuz Eylül University had their first hearings.

The court board has ruled for rejection of venue for academics Sarıtaş, Karaman and Yukuş, who had their first hearings. The case files of the three academics will be sent to the heavy penal courts on duty in the provinces where they were on duty the last time.

Announcing its verdict for academic Gevher Gökçe, the court board has ruled that she shall be sentenced to 2 years and 1 month in prison on charge of "aiding a terrorist organization as a non-member." The prison sentence of the academic has not been deferred.

Judge: The person who did it is also a terrorist

In her final hearing held yesterday, Gevher Gökçe presented her supplementary statement of defense which was previously demanded by the court as to the charge of "aiding a terrorist organization as a non-member."

Making his defense as to the accusations after the academic, Muhammed Saylık, the lawyer of Gökçe, presented the reports prepared during the period of curfews to the court.

Referring to the news reported in the press during that period, Saylık argued that it was normal for his client to be conscientiously concerned about them. Saylık also said, "If you remember, there were videos of a terrorist being dragged by a vehicle circulating in the media."

In response, the Presiding Judge answered, "If you ask me, whoever did this is a terrorist as well. It is also evil to capture an evil done by another person and to spread it. I regard it as an attempt to cause public indignation."

Referring to other news reported in the same period, Saylık emphasized the rightness of his client in signing the peace declaration and advocated that her act was within the scope of freedom of expression. The attorney requested the acquittal of Gevher Gökçe.

Prison sentence of 2 years and 1 month

Announcing its verdict for Gökçe, the court board has ruled that she shall be sentenced to 2 years and 1 month in prison on charge of "aiding a terrorist organization as a non-member" as per the Articles 220/7 and 314/2 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) and Article 5/1 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMK).

Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Article 220/7

Any person who aids and abets an organisation knowingly and willingly, although he does not belong to the structure of that organisation, shall also be sentenced for the offence of being a member of that organisation. The sentence to be imposed for being a member of that organization may be decreased by one-third according to the assistance provided.

TCK 314/2

Any person who becomes a member of the organisation defined in paragraph one shall be sentenced to a penalty of imprisonment for a term of five to ten years.

Anti-Terror Law (TMK) Article 5/1

Penalties of imprisonment and fines imposed according to the respective laws for those committing crimes as described in Articles 3 and 4 above shall be increased by one half.

The prison sentence of the academic, which has not been deferred, will be taken to the court of appeal, which will either uphold or reverse it.

On the other hand, Buket Özkoyuncu, a judge who is a member of the court board, has expressed a dissenting opinion. Özkoyuncu stated that Gevher Gökçe should have been penalized for "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" as per the Article 7/2 of the TMK.

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 March 26, 2019, 558 academics had stood trial since December 5, 2017, all the 163 academics whose cases were concluded have been sentenced to prison. 117 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; 16 academics to 2 years and 3 months in prison; four academics have been sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison; three academics have 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."

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Tansu Pişkin

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bianet muhabiri. İstanbul Üniversitesi Siyaset Bilimi ve Uluslararası İlişkiler Bölümü mezunu. Şubat-Mart 2017 dönemi bianet stajyeriydi. Mayıs 2017'den beri bianet'te.