Protesting teacher asked about her photo with imprisoned lawyer

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Nursel Tanrıverdi, a dismissed teacher who has been carrying out the "I want my job back" protests in Bakırköy, İstanbul, is currently under house arrest.

In the investigation where the verdict of house arrest was given, Tanrıverdi was asked to explain a panel discussion held by a union, where she attended together with Selçuk Kozağaçlı, a lawyer behind bars on "terrorism" charges.

After pronouncing the verdict of house arrest, the judge told her, "Ms. Nursel, we won't see you in protests for a while," she told bianet.

Tanrıverdi was dismissed from public service on February 7, 2017, as per Statutory Decree No. 686. Since February 20, 2017, Tanrıverdi and her colleague Selvi Polat had been carrying out the "We want our jobs back" protest. In this period, they were detained many times and remanded in custody for short periods five times.

The photograph

In the latest investigation, the prosecutor asked Tanrıverdi about her social media posts as well:

"One of the questions was about a panel of the Public Laborers Front, a unionist understanding within the KESK [Confederation of Public Employees' Unions], where I attended as a panelist with Selçuk Kozağaçlı in 2016. No special inquiry was needed, I had shared the post.

"In the photograph, a banner behind us reads, 'We lay claim to our job security.' We had said the right thing. Six months later, we, civil servants who had job security, were fired overnight."

Animal rights banner was confiscated

Police raided Tanrıverdi's home at around 6 a.m. on September 22.

"A yer ago, the door of my home was broken with a hammerhead during an operation like this. This time, they had my neighbor upstairs to open it. But, other friends' doors were broken," she said.

"Special operations police first entered the room of my elder sister, whom I live together with, and woke him with a harsh tone. Then they came to my room.

"Police held a weapon against my chest. They quickly took my ID, my phone was confiscated. They said, 'You are in custody' without showing any documents."

During the search, police also seized a placard that she had been using in the protests and a placard about animal rights, which read "We'll stop this bloodshed," were confiscated, said Tanrıverdi.

"They wanted to handcuff me but I didn't let them. I saw eight-nine civilian cars on in front of the door, scorpions [armored vehicles] at both ends of the street and special operation police. I couldn't believe that."

Old and Covid positive detainees

After her detention, Tanrıverdi was brought to the İstanbul Directorate of Security.

"We stayed at the security directorate for three days. Were 13 people, 10 people were older than 65 years of age. The woman walked with a case, she was 68 years old. She had had a broken back since the torture during teacher Selvi's Bakırköy resistance. She was receiving treatment.

"We learned at the prosecutor's office that Türkan Albayrak's Covid-19 test was positive. I was one of the youngest ones [detained] during the operation, I'm 45 years old. My fingerprint, which I think had been taken 30 times before, was forcibly taken once again.

"A woman police officer held my hair and pinned my head to the ground. A saliva sample was also taken. Two police officers opened my mouth and the doctor got the saliva sample."

"I'm the one who was dismissed"

After a three-day detention, Tanrıverdi was sentenced to house arrest by the judgeship following her questioning at the prosecutor's office.

Tanrıverdi and other detained protesters faced charges because of their activities in the Assembly of Resistances, which was founded by civil servants who were dismissed upon statutory decrees.

During her interrogation at the judgeship, Tanrıverdi was asked whether she had received instructions regarding her activities.

"I said to the judge, 'I don't need to get instructions from anyone.' I'm the one who is dismissed, to whom I'm going to ask to want my job back?

"The judge laughed and said, 'So you say "I'm the organization".' I said, 'Of course, I'm not.' No one gives instructions to anyone at the Assembly of Resistances. There are assemblies in all democratic mass organizations, unions, parties. Is it a crime when we established one? I explained we founded the assembly as those who were dismissed upon statutory decrees. No one can blame us for this, this is our constitutional right." (AS/VK)