Appeals Court: Take into Account Rape Claims

An appeals court has overturned the 12 years and six months of prison sentence handed to Asiye Zeybek Guzel for "membership in an illegal organization." Guzel was a former employee of the "Atilim" newspaper.

The court decided to wait for the outcome of a case Zeybek opened saying she was tortured under detention. She serves as witness in that case. Lawyer Ercan Kanar, who spoke to bianet, said the appeal court's decision could affect the basics of the case.

The DGM did not take into account allegations of torture

Guzel, who also served as editor-in-chief of the "Laborer's Way" newspaper, was sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison on October 16, 2002, for "being a member of the banned Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLKP)." Sixteen others were also sentenced to prison for the same charges.

Asiye Zeybek Guzel, Zabit Iltemur and Gonul Karagoz, who were all handed the same prison sentence, had claimed that they had been tortured to make false statements and to sign them.

Guzel was detained on February 22, 1997. She said she had been raped at the anti-terrorism unit in the Istanbul Police Headquarters. She had denied all charges and said she had been tortured to sign false statements. At the final hearing, Lawyer Kanar told the court not to take into account evidences that are against the law, and to acquit Guzel.

The court did not take into account a report by Istanbul University's Capa Medical Faculty, Psychological Trauma Center, which stated Guzel had been tortured.

Zeybek's case at the ECHR

The prosecutor's office in Fatih investigated the torture allegations and decided there was no need for a trial. The objection made to a Beyoglu court was also rejected, so Kanar applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

Guzel wrote about the things she went through under detention in her book called, "Asiye: A Story of Rape in Torture."

International reaction

The Swedish PEN organization granted its Tucholsky Award, which it grants to writers or editors in exile, who are threatened or facing trials, to Guzel.International PEN, Sweden PEN, British PEN, the Swedish branch of the Lawyers Without Boundaries, and the Journalists Without Borders (RSF) had supported Guzel throughout the trial. (EO/BB/EA/YE)