Constitutional Court says discharged Peace Academic’s rights violated

* Photo: bianet

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The Constitutional Court has handed down a ruling in favor of an Academic for Peace who was put on trial for having signed the declaration "We will not be a party to this crime", discharged from her university and faced with an international travel ban over this signature.

The top court has concluded that "the right to respect for privacy" of academic Latife Akyüz was violated. Facing an international travel ban, Akyüz was unable to go abroad despite winning a scholarship.

First ban, then constraint

Asst. Prof. Latife Akyüz was a faculty member of the Sociology Department of Düzce University Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

After having signed the declaration, she was targeted by the local press and dismissed from her university a day later.

As part of the "terror investigation" launched by the prosecutor's office, the academic's office at the university was raided by the police and her digital materials were seized. A warrant was also issued against her.

Going to the prosecutor's office to give her statement, Akyüz was referred to the judgeship to be arrested. The Penal Judgeship of Peace released her by imposing an international travel ban. The Interior Ministry also placed a constraint on the passport of academic Latife Akyüz.

She won a scholarship

In the meanwhile, Akyüz won the 2-year academic scholarship offered by Germany's Philipp Schwartz Initiative for academics at risk.

However, with a constraint on her passport, Akyüz could not go there. She was also unable to attend a 3-month program in France.

Ruling handed down 5 years later

Akyüz applied to the Constitutional Court via her attorney Meriç Eyüboğlu in 2016 and demanded that the international travel ban be lifted. Examining the application five years later, on September 7, 2021, the top court concluded that Akyüz's "right to respect for privacy" was violated on the grounds of her inability to benefit from academic opportunities abroad.

In the meantime, Latife Akyüz was acquitted in the trial and her international travel ban was lifted. However, there is still a constraint on her passport. After the Constitutional Court ruling is published in the Official Gazette, the last ban on Akyüz is expected to be lifted as well.

Akyüz: Ruling will sent a precedent

Speaking to Alican Uludağ from the Deutsche Welle (DW) Türkçe, Akyüz has said that it will be a legal precedent for all academics going through a similar situation: "What we are going through is a whole process. As there is a chain of rights violations in the entire process, I think that it will at least set a precedent for one of these violations." (TP/SD)