TRIAL OF ACADEMICS
Two Academics Sentenced to 1 Year, 3 Months, One Academic to 1 Year, 10 Months in Prison
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The 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.
Hearings of the following academics were held at the 37th Heavy Penal Court:
Doctorate student Begüm Uzun Taşkın from Toronto University, lecturer Zeyno Pekünlü from Kültür University, Assoc. Prof. Kenan Çayır, and Dr. Lecturer Recep Bülent Somay.
Prison sentences for Taşın, Pekünlü, Çayır
Begüm Uzun Taşkın, who was not present at the court hall, accepted the suspension of the announcement of the verdict in a petition she submitted to the court through her attorney Mehmet İdil Demirci.
Attorney Demirci said in his defense statement that the declaration does not contain a crime element and is within the scope of the freedom of expression.
Stating that the declaration criticizes the rights violations in the operations in the southeast of the country, Demirci demanded the acquittal of his client.
The court sentenced Uzun Taşkın to 1 year and 3 months in prison upon the Anti-Terror Law Article 7/2, deferring the announcement of the verdict.
"No intention to propagandize"
Zeyno Pekünlü from Kültür University, in the second session of her trial, repeating the defense statement she made in the first hearing. In case an opposite verdict is given, she said that she would accept the pronouncement of the verdict.
Pekünlü's attorney Meryem Kavak Ertuğrul reminded her client's statement that she did not have an intention to propagandize for a terrorist organization.
Announcing its verdict after the break, the court sentenced Pekünlü to 1 year and 3 months in prison, deferring the announcement of the verdict.
In the third hearing of the day, Assoc. Prof. Kenan Çayır from Bilgi University and his attorneys, Sevgi Kalan Güvercin and Ali Deniz Ceylan were present at the court hall.
Çayır stated that he accepts the suspension of the announcement of the verdict.
Announcing its verdict after the break, the court sentenced Çayır to 1 year and 3 months in prison, deferring the announcement of the verdict.
The sentence was increased to 1 year, 10 months, 15 days on the ground that Çayır committed the offense through "press and broadcast."
The court deferred the pronouncement of the verdict as the prison term given to Çayır is less than two years.
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 April 11, 2019, 600 academics had stood trial since December 5, 2017, all the 185 academics whose cases were concluded have been sentenced to prison. 132 of these academics were sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in prison; 8 academics to 1 year and 6 months in prison; 17 academics to 1 year, 10 months and 15 days in prison; 17 academics to 2 years and 3 months in prison; five academics have been sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison; three academics have been sentenced to 2 years and 1 month in prison; and one academic to 3 years in prison. The suspension of the pronouncement of the verdict Until today, 12 academics have not accepted that the announcement of their verdicts be deferred. While seven of these academics have been sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in prison, one academic has been sentenced to 1 year and 6 months, one academic to 2 years and 3 months, one academic to 2 years and 6 months and one academic to 3 years in prison. The verdict of one academic has not been pronounced by the court yet. The court board of the 36th Heavy Penal Court has reduced the prison sentences of academics who did not demand the suspension of the pronouncement of their verdicts and deferred their sentences on a 2-year probation. The 32nd Heavy Penal Court has made reductions in the sentences; however, it has not deferred them. The 37th Heavy Penal Court has neither reduced nor deferred the pronouncement of the verdicts. Three academics were not asked about whether they requested the suspension of the pronouncement of their verdicts. While one of these three academics has been sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison, one of them has been sentenced to 1 year and 3 months and the other academic to 2 year and 3 months in prison. The prison sentences of academics, the announcement of whose verdicts has not been suspended since their sentence is over two years, will be taken to the court of appeal. The court of appeal will either uphold or reverse the verdict. 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." |
* As per the Article 231 of the Law on Criminal Courts (CMK), when a court rules that the announcement of a verdict shall be suspended or deferred, the verdict/sentence is removed in the event that the person does not commit an intentional crime in five years.
(HA/VK)