FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 27, 2017
NEW YORK—The arbitrary use of judicial power in targeting signatories of the January 2016 Academics for Peace petition is the latest in a long series of legal charges filed against civil society actors by authorities, and demonstrates the Turkish government’s ongoing campaign to silent dissent in all its forms.
The penal case against the signers of the Academics for Peace petition is a shocking miscarriage of justice, which friends of the Turkish people can only view with dismay. The wording of the indictment, throughout, makes it clear that the case is an assault against fundamental rights of free expression that should be zealously safeguarded. To take only one example, the signers are accused of calling on the government “to lift the curfew, punish those who are responsible for human rights violations, and compensate those citizens who have experienced material an
Scholars charged with terrorism offences almost two years after signing anti-war petition
Turkish academics who signed an anti-war petition could face up to seven-and-a-half years in prison after new charges were filed against them.
Almost two years after 1,128 people signed what has become known as the "Academics for Peace" petition in January 2016, which condemned military action in south-east Turkey, several of its signatories have been told they will face charges of “propagandising for a terrorist organisation”.
The situation for academics in Turkey has dramatically worsened since the failed coup on July 15, a matter of increasing importance given the investigations, firings, deportations, trials, and detentions of academics even prior to the coup. In January of this year, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had already stretched the term “terrorist” enough to apply it to over one thousand members of Academics for Peace for publishing a petition. This threat to academics was foreshadowed in previous attacks on journalists and opposition lawmakers.
Ocak 2016’da “Barış İçin Akademisyenler” imzası ile yayımlanan “Bu Suça Ortak Olmayacağız!” bildirisi nedeniyle, aralarında odamız mensubu meslektaşlarımızın da bulunduğu imzacı pek çok akademisyen, sırf demokratik ifade özgürlüğü haklarını kullandıkları için hukuk dışı uygulamalarla işten çıkarıldı, yandaş medyada estirilen yoğun bir linç kampanyası eşliğinde üniversitelerinden uzaklaştırıldı ya da baskı altına alınarak istifaya zorlandı.
We write on behalf of 207 health professionals, academics, and researchers, and 25 health and human rights organisations from many countries (appendix). We wish to bring to the attention of The Lancet's readers alarming events taking place in Turkey, where the state has been waging a campaign of terror and punishment against thousands of health professionals and academics.
Full article: http://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(17)32093-7.pdf
Barış için Akademisyenler Grubu Hukuk Komisyonundan Avukat Meriç Eyüboğlu: Bir iddianamede karşılaşmamızın absürt olduğu durumla karşı karşıyayız
Three academics from İstanbul University charged for having signed the peace declaration, had the first hearing of their trials today. Their next hearing will be on May 8, 2018.
The hearings of the academics, standing trial for having signed the peace declaration "We will not be a party to this crime" , continued today (December 26) before İstanbul 36th Assize Court in three different courtrooms.
36. Ağır Ceza Mahkemesi'nde İstanbul Üniversitesi'nden üç akademisyenin davalarının ilk duruşmaları görüldü. Duruşmaların tamamının 8 Mayıs’ta devam etmesine karar verildi.
Barış İçin Akademisyenler’in “Bu suça ortak olmayacağız” bildirisi imzacılarına yönelik davalar bugün devam etti.
Çağlayan'daki İstanbul Adliyesi 36. Ağır Ceza Mahkemesi'nde üç duruşma görüldü. Bu davalarda İstanbul Üniversitesi'nden Biriz Gonca Berksoy, İnci Özkan Kerestecioğlu ve Tülay Erkan yargılandı.
