1 More Academic Given Suspended Prison Sentence of 1 Year, 3 Months

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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 (November 20).

14 academics had their hearings at three separate courts:

At the İstanbul 36th Heavy Penal Court: Prof. Dr. P.Y., lecturers Aslı Takanay and İ.S., research assistant Bahar Şahin Fırat, Prof. Dr. Abbas Vali, Dr. Lecturers S.Y. and Günizi Kartal, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ayfer Bartu Candan and Prof. Dr. M.G. from Boğaziçi University; and Prof. Dr. Tahsin Yeşildere from İstanbul University had their second hearings.

At the İstanbul 28th Heavy Penal Court: Research assistant D.Ü. from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University (MSGSÜ) and lecturer Ç.A. from Sabancı University had their second hearings.

At the İstanbul 26th Heavy Penal Court: Instructor Akın Tek from İstanbul Şehir University and PhD student Özgecan Korkmaz from Michigan University had their third hearings.

One academic sentenced to prison

At the 28th Heavy Penal Court, the court board sentenced academic Ç.A. from Sabancı University to 1 year and 3 months in prison on charge of "propagandizing for an armed terrorist organization."

The announcement of the verdict has been deferred.

Takanay did not request suspension of verdict

At the 36th Heavy Penal Court, the Prosecutor's Office announced its opinion as to the accusations for academics M.G., P.Y., S.Y., Aslı Takanay, Tahsin Yeşildere and Ayfer Bartu Candan. The office demanded that the academics be penalized as per the Article no. 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law.

Takanay stated that in the event that she is penalized on these charges, she does not request that the pronouncement of the verdict be deferred.

At the 28th Heavy Penal Court, the Prosecutor's Office also announced its opinion as to the accusations for academic D.Ü. As in the case of other courts, the office demanded that the academic be penalized as per the Article no. 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law.

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 November 20, 2018, 384 academics had stood trial since December 5, 2017. 34 of these academics were sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in prison and 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.

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."

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)