Former Editor Sentenced To 12 And a Half Year

When the sentence was announced, Zeybek, a former editor of a radical newspaper was in Sweden to receive the PEN Tucholsky Award, granted annually to writers who have been persecuted, threatened or are in exile.

London

On 16 October 2002, Asiye Güzel Zeybek, a former editor of a radical newspaper, was sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison for involvement in an "illegal" organization.

Zeybek, who was released in June pending the court decision, lodged an appeal against the sentence with the Supreme Court. She remains free pending the appeal hearing.

International PEN is shocked by the length of Zeybek's sentence and urges that her extraordinarily long pre-trial detention, as well as other concerns about ill treatment while she was detained, be taken into account by the appeal court. The organization urges that she not be forced to return to prison.

The Istanbul State Security Court sentenced Zeybek, in absentia, to 12 and a half years in prison, alongside three other defendants who received similar terms.

When the sentence was announced, Zeybek was in Sweden to receive the PEN Tucholsky Award, granted annually to writers who have been persecuted, threatened or are in exile.

She is not required to return to Turkey while her case is under appeal. It has been reported that Zeybek's book on her experiences in prison is currently under investigation by the security services.

Background

Arrested in February 1997 during a demonstration protesting alleged links between Mafia groups and the government, Zeybek, now aged 31, was held in pre-trial detention until her release on 5 June 2002 pending the outcome of her trial.

Accused for her connections with the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLCP, now defunct), Zeybek is being tried under Article 168 of the Turkish Penal Code for membership in an "illegal organisation".

The indictment, dating from 21 June 1994, accuses her of running and distributing the MLCP journal" Isçinin Yolu" ("Worker's Path"). During an 8 October 1997 trial hearing, Zeybek claimed to have been raped while under interrogation at the Istanbul Security Directorate Political Department.

On 24 October 1997, her complaint against eight policemen was accepted following a report confirming the attack from the Psycho-Social Traumatology Centre in Istanbul.

The officers were brought to trial in November 1998. However, on 1 November 2000, the court decided not to proceed with the eight policemen's prosecution. (NM)

* WiPC: Writers in Prison Committee, International PEN, London