Imprisoned University Student Korkmaz: Are You Still Surprised?
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Barış Baran Korkmaz, a final year student at the Aydın Adnan Menderes University Department of International Relations, went to visit his family in Pertek, Dersim.
The police, after receiving a notice that there is an LPG cylinder that will be used to make an IED in the yard of a hostel close to the house of Korkmaz's family. An anonymous witness alleged that it was Korkmaz who left the cylinder there, which lead the police to conduct a raid in his home.
Korkmaz and three other people were taken into custody. He has been in prison for two and a half years after was arrested on the charge of "membership of a terrorist organization".
In the last hearing, he received an aggregated life sentence and a 23-year prison term. Approving Korkmaz's sentence, the court sent the file to a court of appeal in Erzurum province.
The Korkmaz family launched a campaign titled, "Justice for Baran Barış Korkmaz." Opening a social media account in the name of him, they shared information on the situation of Korkmaz.
In a message he sent to bianet, Korkmaz says that he is still hopeful and the situation of unlawfulness can change.
"We can't make our voices heard regarding the unlawfulness that we are subjected to. So, sincere thanks to those who become our voice. The verdict of sentence has not been approved and please don't forget that we have the power to change this verdict. I need your support for the return of my right to education that has been taken away from me for three years and my right to life.
"If I will be with my family, with my loved ones at the yard of the university, this will be because of those who support me. I am keeping my hopes alive and longingly waiting for free days."
Korkmaz also addressed those who say, "If he didn't do anything, he wouldn't receive a 59-year sentence": "Dilek Doğan was killed in her home. Kemal Korkut was killed in Newroz. I am a university student and received a 59-year sentence. Are you still surprised? Those people are my peers. Can you justify their killings?"
Korkmaz's sentence on parliament
Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) MP Meral Danış Beştaş directed a parliamentary question at the Ministry of Justice on the situation of Korkmaz. She said, "In the period when Baran Barış was arrested, it has been alleged that a person who stayed in a ward near Baran Barış' said when he saw him, 'It's a pity for this boy. He is young an innocent, we set up the incident with Tunceli (Dersim) intelligence."
Danış Beştaş asked the following questions:
*Are you informed of the case of Baran Barış Korkmaz?
*Will you have a statement regarding the courts recently giving verdicts solely on testimonies of anonymous witnesses?
*How can a testimony of a witness who cannot even give a description of Baran Barış Korkmaz can be so influential on the conclusion of the trial?
*While the hostel manager's statement that say Baran Barış Korkmaz did not stay there does not constitute an evidence, how can the statement of the anonymous witness who have never saw Baran Barış can influence the case result? (EMK/VK)