TRIAL OF ACADEMICS
Presiding Judge: Why Didn’t You Make a Call to Terrorist Organization?
* Photograph: Nazım Dikbaş
Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish
Trial of academics, who have been charged with "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" for having signed the declaration entitled "We will not be a party to this crime" prepared by the Academics for Peace, continued in İstanbul Çağlayan Courthouse today (June 19).
Two academics had their hearings at two different courts: Prof. Dr. Zelal Ekinci from Kocaeli University had her first hearing at the İstanbul 13th Heavy Penal Court and Research Assistant Hazal Halavut from Boğaziçi University had her seventh hearing at the İstanbul 32nd Heavy Penal Court.
The Prosecutor announced his opinion as to the accusations for Halavut and demanded that the academic be penalized on charge of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" as per the Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMK).
Next hearings of both academics will be held in November 2019.
Court rejected request for immediate acquittal
Appearing before the court in her first hearing, academic Zelal Ekinci expressed her request for acquittal and stated that she had not yet prepared her statement of defense.
Speaking after her client, attorney Meriç Eyüboğlu requested that Ekinci be immediately acquitted and, if not, her case file be combined with the files of other academics heard by the same court.
The court board has rejected the requests of Eyüboğlu and given time to the defendant so that she can prepare her statement of defense. Accordingly, her next hearing will be held on November 7, 2019.
'Why didn't you make a call to the terrorist organization'
In her seventh hearing heard by the İstanbul 32nd Heavy Penal Court, academic Hazal Halavut presented her statement of defense in both oral and written form. After her defense, the Presiding Judge asked the academic, "Then, why didn't you make a call to the terrorist organization as well?" Halavut answered, "I am a citizen of this state."
Presenting her defense after her client, attorney Meriç Eyüboğlu said that she would start her defense by first responding to the question directed to Halavut by the Presiding Judge. "The document in question has specified a field for itself and criticized the grave rights violations committed in the period of curfews, listing a series of recommendations for a permanent peace," Eyüboğlu indicated regarding the question of the judge.
Announcing his opinion as to the accusations, Prosecutor of the court İkram Coşkun demanded that Hazal Halavut be penalized on charge of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" as per the Article 7/2 of the TMK. The next hearing of the academic will be held on November 12, 2019.
About the Trials of AcademicsOn January 10, 2016, 1,128 academics published a declaration entitled "We will not be party to this crime" on behalf of the Academics for Peace initiative. With the participation of further academics, the number of academics who have signed the declaration has reached 2,212. With the indictment issued by the Prosecutor İsmet Bozkurt, lawsuits were filed against the academics on charge of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" as per the Article No. 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law No. 3713. As of June 19, 2019, 632 academics had stood trial since December 5, 2017, all the 200 academics whose cases were concluded have been sentenced to prison. 142 of these academics were sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in prison; 8 academics to 1 year and 6 months in prison; 16 academics to 1 year, 10 months and 15 days in prison; 17 academics to 2 years and 3 months in prison; seven academics have been sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison; five academics have been sentenced to 2 years and 1 month in prison; and one academic to 3 years in prison. Non-deferred prison sentences for 35 people Of these 200 people, the verdicts of conviction of 36 academics in total have not been deferred; while the verdicts of 29 people have not been deferred as their prison terms are over 2 years (as per the Article 286 of the Law on Criminal Courts, the verdicts of 7 academics have not been deferred as they did not accept the deferment of the announcement of their verdicts. With her 15-month prison sentence upheld by the court of appeal, Academic for Peace Prof. Dr. Füsun Üstel has been arrested since May 8, 2019. The academics given non-deferred prison sentences are as follows: Ayşe Erzan, Özdemir Aktan, Nesrin Sungur Çakmak, Füsun Üstel, Büşra Ersanlı, Lütfiye Bozdağ, Şebnem Korur Fincancı, Özgür Müftüoğlu, Yonca Demir, Gençay Gürsoy, M.A., Alper Akyüz, Ahmet Bekmen, Nihan Aksakallı, Hülya Kirmanoğlu, İsmet Akça, Haydar Durak, İlkay Özküralpli, Öznur Yaşar Diner, Remzi Orkun Güner, Esra Kaliber, Eda Aslı Şeran, Aysuda Kölemen, İlkay Yılmaz, Zeynep Tül Süalp, L.N., S.A., Gevher Gökçe, Çare Olgun Çalışkan, Nevin Zeynep Yelçe, Ali Kerem Saysel, Koray Çalışkan, S.I. Süreyya Topaloğlu, Ayşe Gül Altınay, Noemi Levy Aksu. You can reach all news on Trials of Academics here On March 10, 2016, the Academics for Peace made a statement for press and shared with the public what they had been going through since the declaration "We will not be a party to this crime" was published. The academics Dr. Lecturer Esra Mungan, Dr. Lecturer Muzaffer Kaya, Assoc. Prof. Dr Kıvanç Ersoy (March 15, 2016) and Dr. Lecturer Meral Camcı (March 31, 2016), who read out the statement for press, were arrested on charge of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" as per the Article No. 7/2 of the Turkish Anti-Terror Law. They were released on April 2016. Upon the request of the Prosecutor's Office, the Ministry of Justice granted a permission of trial as per the Article No. 301 of the Turkish Penal Code No. 301 on charges of "insulting the Turkish Nation, the State of the Republic of Turkey and the institutions and organs of the government." You can reach the statements of Academics for Peace in English here |
(TP/SD)