Deferred Prison Sentence of 1 Year, 3 Months for 2 Academics

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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 yesterday (December 11).

Six academics had their hearings at four separate courts:

At the İstanbul 25th Heavy Penal Court: Prof. Dr. Ayşe Gül Altınay from Sabancı University had her second hearing.

At the İstanbul 24th Heavy Penal Court: Dr. Lecturer Aylin Ünaldı from Boğaziçi University had her third hearing.

At the İstanbul 26th Heavy Penal Court: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sezai Ozan Zeybek from İstanbul Bilgi University had his second hearing.

At the İstanbul 37th Heavy Penal Court: Prof. Dr. Naz Çavuşoğlu, Prof. Dr. Gençay Gürsoy and Research Assistant Can Soylu had their third hearings.

Prison sentence for 2 academics

Having her third hearing at the İstanbul 37th Heavy Penal Court, Çavuşoğlu requested additional time so that she could express her opinion as to the suspension of the announcement of the verdict.

Her attorney Meriç Eyüboğlu also requested rejection of the court board "on the ground that the board lost its impartiality." The court board rejected the request for additional time raised by Naz Çavuşoğlu as well as the request for rejection of the court board raised by her attorney Eyüboğlu.

Though Eyüboğlu stated that she would object to the rejection of the court and it would be a violation of the Law on Criminal Courts if the verdict was pronounced, the court board stated that there was no such article in the related law and ruled that Naz Çavuşoğlu and Can Soylu shall be sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in prison on charge of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" as per the Article no. 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law.

The announcement of both verdicts has been suspended.

CLICK - Prof. Dr. Gürsoy Sentenced to 2 Years, 3 Months in Prison

What happened?

On 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 December 11, 2018, 426 academics had stood trial since December 5, 2017. 41 of these academics were sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in prison; 2 academics were sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison and one academic has been sentenced to 2 years and 3 months in prison. All of the sentences were suspended, except for those of Prof. Dr. Zübeyde Füsun Üstel from Galatasaray University and Prof. Dr. Büşra Ersanlı from Marmara University and Prof. Dr. Gülhan Türkay from İstanbul University.

The penalty of Prof. Dr. Üstel was not deferred on the grounds that "she did not demand deferment of the announcement of the verdict and that she did not make a statement of penitence." As for the penalty of Prof. Dr. Büşra Ersanlı, it was not deferred on the ground that "no opinion as to her avoidance of committing offense has emerged considering her personality which does not express any remorse." Regarding Türkay, it was stated that "the defendant did nıt request the suspension of the announcement of the verdict." However, the court board still deferred her prison sentence on the condition of a 2-year probation.

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 above-mentioned 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."

The trials still continue. (TP/SD)