Tax office levies attachment on protestor’s bank account over her press statements

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An attachment has been levied on the bank account of Nazan Bozkurt, one of the protestors of "I want my job back" on Yüksel Street in the capital city of Ankara. With two separate notifications of attachment, the Tax Office says that Bozkurt has a debt of 281,330.39 lira in total.

This debt stems from the administrative fines imposed on Bozkurt for her protests by the police as part of the Law on Misdemeanor.

Speaking to bianet about the issue, Bozkurt stresses that as a result of her applications, administrative courts have already cancelled these fines. "I had 700 fines cancelled by various courts. However, the tax office has still levied an attachment on my back account," she says.

Nazan Bozkurt will lodge an appeal to the Tax Office by presenting the related court rulings of cancellation.

'It doesn't comply with equitable principles'

Two of these fines were previously cancelled by the 8th and 9th Ankara Administrative Courts. Cancelling an administrative fine of 512 lira in total, the court concluded that "issuing a payment order based on the minutes taken by police officers didn't comply with equitable principles."

Top court: House arrest is unlawful

As part of the investigations launched against Nazan Bozkurt over her protests, she was also sentenced to house arrest three times. When we talked to her about the latest house arrest on June 19, 2020, she said, "I won't stay at home. Of course not" and briefly added:

"I will resort to legal appeal proceedings. But during this period, I don't recognize the verdict of house arrest and I will not stay at home. They didn't recognize the Civil Servants' Act when dismissing me, they didn't recognize the Constitution when disregarding our appeals, they violated the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) when we were tortured. Then, I don't recognize this unlawful and illegal verdict of house arrest."

The verdict of house arrest was found unlawful by the Constitutional Court in its ruling dated January 13, 2021.

The Court concluded that "a sit-in or hunger strike protest, which could be considered a manifestation of freedom of expression in certain conditions, obviously cannot be cited as criminal evidence in itself."

Noting that her right to personal liberty and security as per the Article 19/3 of the Constitution was violated, the top court ruled that Bozkurt should be paid 20 thousand lira in non-pecuniary damages.

The court ruling noted that "there was no concrete fact or finding in the investigation documents as to the committal of the related act as part of an organizational relation or as an organizational attitude", adding that the judicial control measure was imposed on the applicant "without putting forward strong indications that the offense charged had been committed."

What happened?

Nazan Bozkurt was dismissed from public service at the Civil Registry by the Statutory Decree no. 683 published in the Official Gazette no. 29957 dated January 23, 2017 amid the State of Emergency declared in Turkey after the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016.

After she was discharged from public service, Nazan Bozkurt joined the "I want my job back" protests in Yüksek Street in Ankara. Expressing her objections in a legal way, she also objected to her discharge at the State of Emergency Commission and requested her reinstatement.

CLICK - 'I won't stay at home, of course not'

As for the Commission, it has concluded that her discharge was rightful. In giving this decision, the commission referred to her protests after being discharged and the investigations launched into these protests.

CLICK - 'Back to the Future' Decision by the Commission

In the decision of the commission, the investigation launched against Bozkurt 2 years after she was discharged was cited as a justification: "...According to the information obtained from the National Judiciary Informatics System (UYAP), the investigation against the applicant dated 2019/104828 conducted by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on charge of being a member of an armed terrorist organization is still ongoing..."

Within this context, the Commission also referred to the files of the investigation and lawsuits against Bozkurt on charge of "membership of a terrorist organization" and alleged that "the information and documents in these files as well as other findings in the inquiry section revealed her connection with the DHKP/C* terrorist organization."

Nazan Bozkurt is standing trial as part of another lawsuit launched against her over his protests in the Yüksel Street.

She was released in April 2021. (AS/SD)