ENGLISH

"Though the judges and prosecutors who found more than 200 academics guilty and penalized them and jurists in the Constitutional Court acted according to the same constitution and penal codes, why were their verdicts spread over such a large spectrum?"

Republican People's Party (CHP) Group Deputy Chair Özgür Özel has announced that they have submitted a bill of law to the Speaker's Office, requesting that 406 academics signatory to the peace declaration be reinstated and the unjust treatment they suffered be compensated.

Holding a statement for the press to share the bill of law with the public, Özel has indicated that they submitted the bill after the Constitutional Court ruled that the rights of Academics for Peace have been violated.

Five organizations called for the acquittal of the academics after Constitutional Court ruling.

Five psychology organizations have called on the authorities in Turkey to drop charges against the Academics for Peace, including Prof. Serdar Değirmencioğlu, the former president of the European Community Psychology Association (ECPA).

Twenty-two academics have been released so far after the Constitutional Court ruled in July that prison sentences violate the freedom of expression.

Diyarbakır 11th Heavy Penal Court has ruled for the acquittal of three academics and İstanbul 28th Heavy Penal Court has ruled for the acquittal of five Academics for Peace signatory to the declaration “We will not be a party to this crime”.

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 Diyarbakır and İstanbul today (September 9).