Gezi prisoners Mater and Özerden transferred back to İstanbul after five days in İzmir
Gezi Park trial convicts Çiğdem Mater and Mine Özerden returned to İstanbul on Jul 25, five days after their transfer to a prison in İzmir.
The two women were taken from the İzmir Women’s Closed Prison, also known as Şakran Prison, to the Marmara Women’s Closed Prison in İstanbul’s Silivri district.
Mater and Özerden had been held at the Bakırköy Women’s Closed Prison since their imprisonment in 2022. They were transferred to Şakran Prison on Jul 20, and admitted to the facility the same day.
Mater’s lawyer Hürrem Sönmez noted after the initial transfer that the prisoners' families and lawyers were based in İstanbul and that the transfer would be another form of punishment.
“Family visits will become more difficult, and they will face another form of isolation beyond imprisonment itself,” she told bianet.
ECtHR: Inmates Cannot be Transferred to Prisons Distant from Their Hometowns
Background
The İstanbul 13th Heavy Penal Court sentenced Mater and Özerden to 18 years in prison in Apr 2022, for “aiding an attempt to overthrow the government.”
The Court of Cassation’s 3rd Penal Chamber upheld both sentences in Sep 2023.
The case concerned the 2013 Gezi Park protests, which drew millions of people across Turkey. Eight rights advocates were accused of organizing and financing the demonstrations with the intent of overthrowing the government.
An initial trial ended in acquittals, but a retrial resulted in lengthy prison sentences, including an aggravated life sentence for philantropist Osman Kavala. Three defendants whose sentences were later overturned were acquitted following another retrial.
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Who are the eight convicts of the Gezi case?
(NÖ/VK)
