Having their final hearings in İstanbul and Kocaeli, four more academics have been acquitted in the wake of a verdict of “right violation” by the Constitutional Court. Academics for Peace have been acquitted by 17 courts across Turkey so far.
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 Kocaeli and İstanbul today (September 17).
In the first hearing held at the İstanbul 36th Heavy Penal Court today, Research Assistant Serdar Başçetin from Erzincan University has been acquitted in his final hearing that he attended via Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS).
The İstanbul 37th Heavy Penal Court has also ruled that Research Assistant Esra Demir Gürsel from Marmara University and Research Assistant Emre Özyetiş from Mardin Artuklu University shall be acquitted. It marks the first time the board of the İstanbul 37th Heavy Penal Court chaired by Presiding Judge Akın Gürlek has given a verdict of acquittal in trials of academics.
Having his second and final hearing at the Kocaeli 5th Heavy Penal Court around the same time today, Prof. Dr. Cengiz Erçin from Kocaeli University has also been acquitted.
Verdicts of acquittal at 17 courts
After the Constitutional Court ruled that the freedom of expression of Academics for Peace has been violated, joint and separate verdicts of acquittal have been given for academics at 17 courts in total. These five provinces and 17 courts are as follows:
İstanbul: 32nd Heavy Penal Court (ACM), 30th ACM, 26th ACM, 36th ACM, 22nd ACM, 28th ACM, 25th ACM, 34th ACM, 37th ACM, 29th ACM, 33rd ACM, 23rd ACM, 24th ACM
Diyarbakır: 11th Heavy Penal Court
Ankara: 18th Heavy Penal Court
Kocaeli: 5th Heavy Penal Court
Düzce: Düzce Heavy Penal Court
According to the Academics for Peace website, as of 4 p.m. on September 17, 171 academics have been confirmed to be acquitted so far.
About the Trials of Academics
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 September 9, 2019, 640 academics had stood trial since December 5, 2017, all the 204 academics whose cases were concluded were sentenced to prison. 146 of these academics were sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in prison; 8 academics to 1 year and 6 months in prison; 18 academics to 1 year, 10 months and 15 days in prison; 17 academics to 2 years and 3 months in prison; 7 academics to 2 years and 6 months in prison; 5 academics to 2 years and 1 month in prison; and one academic to 3 years in prison.
Non-deferred prison sentences for 36 people
Of these 204 people, the verdicts of conviction of 36 academics in total were not deferred; while the verdicts of 29 people were not deferred as their prison terms are over 2 years (as per the Article 286 of the Law on Criminal Courts), the verdicts of 7 academics were not deferred as they did not accept the deferment of the announcement of their verdicts.
With her 15-month prison sentence upheld by the court of appeal, Academic for Peace Prof. Dr. Füsun Üstel was arrested on May 8, 2019 to be released on July 22.
Constitutional Court said "violation of right"
The General Assembly of the Constitutional Court examined the individual applications of 10 Academics for Peace sentenced to prison on charge of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" for having signed the peace declaration.
On July 26, 2019, the Court ruled that the penalization of Academics for Peace on charge of "terror propaganda" has violated their freedom of expression.
The Court decided that a copy of this judgement shall be sent to all local courts in order to eliminate this right's violation and advised for retrial. The court also ruled to pay each applicant 9 thousand TRY in reparations.
Acquittals
After the new judicial year opened on September 2, the first verdict of acquittal for an Academic for Peace in accordance with the Constitutional Court ruling was given by the İstanbul 30th Heavy Penal Court.
After the Constitutional Court ruled that the freedom of expression of Academics for Peace has been violated, joint and separate verdicts of acquittal have been given for academics at 17 courts in total. These five provinces and 17 courts are as follows:
İstanbul: 32nd Heavy Penal Court (ACM), 30th ACM, 26th ACM, 36th ACM, 22nd ACM, 28th ACM, 25th ACM, 34th ACM, 37th ACM, 29th ACM, 33rd ACM, 23rd ACM, 24th ACM
Diyarbakır: 11th Heavy Penal Court
Ankara: 18th Heavy Penal Court
Kocaeli: 5th Heavy Penal Court
Düzce: Düzce Heavy Penal Court
Constitutional Court ruling and its consequences
The ruling of the Constitutional Court stipulates that the local courts shall hold re-trials and give verdicts of acquittal in ongoing cases and for finalized sentences and the courts of appeal shall reverse the judgements in question.
The State of Emergency Commission, which has not yet given its decision regarding the applications of discharged academics, shall also take the Constitutional Court ruling into account. However, it can still give contrary rulings.
In the event that the Commission gives a decision against the academics, they will have the right to appeal to the Council of State. Though the Constitutional Court ruling is binding for the Council of State, any possible failure to withdraw the decisions of discharge will also be examined by the Constitutional Court.
You can reach all news on Trials of Academics here
You can reach the statements of Academics for Peace in English here
(TP/SD)
Source: https://bianet.org/english/freedom-of-expression/213172-academics-for-pe...