Appeal against Dr. Şeyhmus Gökalp’s acquittal

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Turkish Medical Association (TTB) Honorary Board member Dr. Şeyhmus Gökalp was acquitted of "membership of an organization" at his final hearing at the Diyarbakır 10th High Criminal Court on November 19.

As reported by Mezopotamya Agency (MA), Public Prosecutor Fatih Güngör appealed against this unanimous court ruling on the same day on the grounds that "it is against the due procedure and the law."

Upon this appeal, the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has requested the justified ruling to prepare the pleading.

What happened?

TTB High Honorary Board member and former Central Council member Dr. Şeyhmus Gökalp was arrested on November 23, 2020 and sent to the Diyarbakır Type D Prison. While 54 pages of the 55-page indictment alleged that the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) was an "illegal entity", it demanded up to 15 years in prison for the arrested physician.

As the indictment was accepted by the Diyarbakır 10th Heavy Penal Court, Dr. Gökalp had his first hearing on February 10, 2021.

Gökalp was released at his first hearing.

About Şeyhmus Gökalp

A member of the TTB High Honorary Board. A workplace doctor and practicing physician at the Deva Joint Health and Security Unit (OSGB) in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeastern province of Diyarbakır.

Born in Mardin's Nusaybin in 1977, he graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of Fırat University in 2002. He was a member of the Diyarbakır Medical Chamber Human Rights, Workers' Health and Workplace Medicine, Press, Extraordinary Situations Commissions.

He was a member of the Diyarbakır Medical Chamber Inspection Board (2004-2008) and a TTB Central Council member (2014-2016).

The police launched an operation against the TTB, which issued a statement of "War is a public health problem", on January 30, 2018. A member of the TTB Central Council at the time, Dr. Gökalp was also among the detained. Following their statements at the prosecutor's office and the judgeship, the doctors were released on probation. (KÖ/SD)