Prosecutor’s Office ‘Advises’ Architect Discharged by Decree to Pay 1,250 TL to Avoid Lawsuit

Click to read the article in Turkish

Staging demonstration of “I want my job back” in Düzce, architect Alev Şahin has received a notice from Düzce Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office reading that “the conditions for a lawsuit to be brought have been constituted, and no civil lawsuit will be filed in case she pays 1,250 TL (250 Euros)”.

Signed by Prosecutor İbrahim Bilhan Bilaloğlu, the notification is grounded on Emergency Law No. 2953 Article 25/b-1, which stipulates jail term from 1 to 6 months for “those who don’t follow orders of governorships”.

Şahin is accused of “acting against governorship’s measures” in the notice.

Both governorship’s ban and sit-in protest continue

Düzce Governorship had imposed ban on demonstrations on the basis of Emergency Law to prevent Şahin from staging sit-in protest.

Speaking to bianet, Alev Şahin said that she continued her protest after the ban as well and she was detained on two consecutive days, and added she was forced to listen to Ottoman Military Band Anthem while she was in custody.

Stating that she “doesn’t plan to pay it”, Şahin said, “because demand for a democratic right is inestimable”.

What happened?

Architect Alev Şahin was discharged from Environment and Urbanism Provincial Directorate where she was working since 2011 by statutory decree No. 679 dated January 6, 2017.

Şahin has been staging sit-in protest on the square at Spor Street in Düzce with a banner reading “I want my job and bread back” since January 30, 2017. (AS/TK)