An academic from the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University has been sentenced to 1 year, 3 months in prison. The announcement of the verdict has been deferred.
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 today (December 25).
15 academics had their hearings at three separate courts:
At the İstanbul 28th Heavy Penal Court: Research Assistant D.Ü. from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University (MSGSÜ) had the third hearing.
At the İstanbul 29th Heavy Penal Court: Dr. Lecturer Berke Özenç from Turkish-German University had his second hearing; Dr. Lecturer Yıldız Silierfrom Boğaziçi University had her third hearing.
At the İstanbul 37th Heavy Penal Court: Prof. Dr. Mesut Yeğen from Şehir University; Lecturer Zeyno Pekünlü from İstanbul Kültür University; PhD student B.U.T. from Toronto University; Assoc. Prof. Dr. K.Ç., Dr. Lecturer Bülent Somay and Research Assistant Belin Benezra from İstanbul Bilgi University; Lecturer Reyhan Tutumlu from Sabancı University; Dr. Özge Özay from American University; Prof. Dr. Murat Cemal Yalçıntan and Assoc. Prof. Dr. B.Ş. from the MSGSÜ; and Prof. Dr. Fikret Uyar from Dicle University had their first hearings. Dr. Lecturer Filiz Arıöz from Marmara University also had her third hearing.
One academic sentenced to prison
At the 28th Heavy Penal Court, the court board ruled that academic D.Ü. shall be sentenced to 1 year, 3 months in prison for "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" as per the Article no. 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMK). The announcement of the verdict has been deferred.
Opinion as to accusations for three academics
At the 37th Heavy Penal Court, the Prosecutor's Office announced its opinion as to the accusations for academics K.Ç., B.U.T. and Pekünlü.
The Office demanded that the academics be also penalized as per the Article no. 7/2 of the TMK. The hearings have been adjourned.
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 December 25, 2018, 444 academics had stood trial since December 5, 2017. 61 of these academics were sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in prison; 3 academics to 1 year and 6 months in prison; one academic to 2 years and 3 months in prison; one academic has been sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison.
The ones who did not request suspension of announcement of verdict
Until today, nine academics have not accepted that the announcement of their verdicts be suspended. While six of these academics have been sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in prison, three academics have been sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison and one academic has been sentenced to 2 years and 3 months in prison.
* Prof. Dr. Büşra Ersanlı - At the 32nd Heavy Penal Court - 1 year, 3 months in prison. While the sentence has been reduced, the announcement of the verdict has not been deferred.
* Prof. Dr. Zübeyde Füsun Üstünel - At the 32nd Heavy Penal Court - 1 year, 3 months in prison. The sentence has been reduced. The announcement of the verdict has not been deferred.
* Prof. Dr. Ayşe Erzan - At the 32nd Heavy Penal Court - 1 year, 3 months in prison. The sentence has been reduced, the announcement of the verdict has not been suspended.
* Prof. Dr. Nesrin Sungur Çakmak - At the 32nd Heavy Penal Court - 1 year, 3 months in prison. The sentence has been reduced, the pronouncement of the verdict has not been suspended.
* Prof. Dr. Özdemir Aktan - 1 year, 3 months in prison. While the sentence has been reduced, the pronouncement of the verdict has not been deferred.
* Lecturer Aslı Takanay - The verdict has not been pronounced.
* Assoc. Prof. Dr. Esra Arsan - The verdict has not been pronounced.
* Prof. Dr. Gülhan Türkay - 1 year, 3 months in prison. While the prison sentenced has been reduced, the pronouncement of the verdict has not been suspended.
* Dr. Lecturer Lütfiye Bozdağ - 1 year, 6 months in prison. Her prison sentence has not been reduced. The announcement of the verdict has not been deferred.
* Prof. Dr. Şebnem Korur Fincancı - 2 years, 6 months in prison. Korur Fincancı stated that she did not accept the suspension of the announcement of the verdict. Her sentence has not been suspended or reduced.
The ones whose statements were not taken
* Research Assistant Onur Baysal - At the 28th Heavy Penal Court - 1 year, 3 months in prison. The court deferred his sentence without demanding his statement about it.
* Dr. Yonca Güneş Yücel - At the 28th Heavy Penal Court - 1 year, 6 months in prison. It was claimed that the academic accepted the suspension of the announcement of the verdict though her statement was not taken. The verdict has been deferred on the condition of 2-year probation.
* Prof. Dr. Gençay Gürsoy - At the 37th Heavy Penal Court - His statement as to the suspension of the pronouncement of the verdict was never taken. He has been sentenced to 2 years and 3 months in prison.
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."
(GD/TP/SD)
Source: https://bianet.org/english/freedom-of-expression/203885-deferred-prison-...