Sociologist and writer Pınar Selek has already been acquitted three times in the case of the blast at the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul in 1998. The trial was merged with other related cases and the next hearing in the 13-year trial process will be held before the Beşiktaş (Istanbul) Special Authority 12th High Criminal Court on 28 September 2011 at 9.45 am.
In a statement made by the Platform "We are still witnesses", the importance of the coming hearing was emphasized and the platform invited the public to follow the process closely.
"The decision that is going to be given will be an indicator of the Turkey we going to live in", the platform stated and stressed that the Selek trial was a "symbol for the request for justice" of the national and international public.
Important changed of prosecutors
The trial has been pending for 13 years. Pınar Selek was acquitted three times. Every time, prosecutor Nuri Ahmet Saraç appealed the decision and demanded Selek's detention and an aggravated life sentence for the sociologist. Now Saraç was appointed to a different duty.
The last hearing was held on 22 June 2011. The court postponed the trial to 28 September in order to hear the statements on the decision of reversal given by the Court of Appeals General Assembly for the other defendants of the case.
Saraç was displaced from the case and appointed as investigation prosecutor. He was substituted by Prosecutor Mehmet Ali Uysal who previously worked at the Samandağ Public Prosecution, the justice inspectorate and the Şişli Public Prosecution.
Subsequent to the decision of reversal by the Court of Appeals General Assembly, the Istanbul 12th High Criminal Court insisted on its ruling for Selek's acquittal at the 9 February hearing. Thus, Pelek was acquitted for the third time.
In August 2010, the Überleben ('Survival') Treatment Centre for Torture victims in Berlin issued a special expert report about the torture experienced by Selek in custody and the effects that had on her. The case was brought before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) with the request for a new fair trial and compensation.
Selek was tortured on the grounds of her scientific studies on the Kurdish question and because she had refused to disclose the names of the people she talked to. She was held responsible for the blast at the Spice Bazar and arrested accordingly. (IC/VK)
