Former Nusaybin Mayor Ayşe Gökkan sentenced to 30 years in prison

* Photo: Mezopotamya Agency (MA)

Click to read the article in Turkish

The court handed down its ruling in the trial of former Mardin Nusaybin District Mayor Ayşe Gökkan yesterday (October 20).

Standing trial on charge of "membership of a [terrorist/ illegal] organization" twice and "propagandizing for the organization" once, Ayşe Gökkan, also the Term Spokesperson for the Free Women's Movement (TJA), has been sentenced to 30 years in prison in total.

The final hearing of the case was held at the Diyarbakır 9th High Criminal Court in southeast Turkey and attended by Gökkan herself as well as her lawyers Berfin Gökkan, Özüm Vurgun and Muharrem Şahin.

In its final opinion as to the accusations, the prosecutor's office once again demanded that Gökkan be separately sentenced to prison on charge of "membership of an organization" twice and "propagandizing for the organization" once and that her imprisonment continue.

Gökkan, her lawyers didn't make defense

As reported by Mezopotamya Agency (MA), Gökkan spoke in Kurdish, which was interpreted into Turkish. She briefly said:

"I am Ayşe Gökkan, I am the term spokesperson for the TJA. This court has violated the right to a fair trial since the very first day.

"The rights of my women lawyers, our bar association chair and all lawyers have been violated as well. The Presiding Judge and the board of the [Diyarbakır] 9th High Criminal Court carried out this attack on the entire world. There is no defense I can make for this reason."

Gökkan's lawyer Berfin Gökkan also recalled that the lawyers had been taken out of the courtroom by being battered by the police upon the instruction of the Presiding Judge at the previous hearing. "Our client has not been tried by a fair, impartial court for nine hearings. We don't make a statement as to the final opinion as to the accusations," the lawyer added.

Lawyer Muharrem Şahin said that they would not make defense, adding that they would be exercising this right in the following judicial processes.

The court has ruled that Ayşe Gökkan shall be sentenced to 12 years in prison, prison term higher than the upper limit, on charge of "membership of an organization", 7 years, 6 months in prison, again on charge of "membership of an organization", 7 years, 6 months on charge of "knowingly and willingly aiding the organization" and 3 years for "propaganda."

Sentencing Ayşe Gökkan to 30 years in prison in total, the court board has ruled that her imprisonment shall continue.

Women have denounced the verdict

Following the hearing, several women, including Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) MPs Remziye Tosun and Nuran İmir, Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Co-Chair Saliha Aydeniz and women from the TJA and Rosa Women's Association made a press statement in front of the courthouse.

Speaking on behalf of the group, Saliha Aydeniz said that the prison sentence given to Gökkan aimed to make the women's struggle step back.

Defining the verdict as "null and void" for women, Aydeniz said, "We would like to say that we will not take a step back in the face of these sentences. Even though there is nothing in the file, they give her 30 years in total, which make us - women - quite clearly see what kind of a grudge, fear and inability to govern they have found themselves in." (KÖ/SD)