On December 12, 2018, Istanbul courts sentenced nine academics to one year and three months imprisonment on the charge of “propagandizing for a terrorist organization.” The charges are in apparent retaliation for the scholars’ endorsement of a petition criticizing state and military actions in the mainly Kurdish southeastern part of the country.
The petition, organized by a group known as “Academics for Peace,” was issued in January 2016 and initially signed by 1,128 scholars from 89 Turkish universities, as well as more than 300 scholars from outside the country. The petition demanded an end to fighting between Turkish forces and members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, accused the government of the “deliberate massacre and deportation” of civilians, and called on the government to allow independent observers into the region, end curfews, and renew peace efforts.
Following the petition’s publication, state and higher education authorities in Turkey began launching criminal and administrative investigations against the signatories. Since that time, a growing number of signatories have reportedly faced criminal investigations and prosecutions, as well as professional retaliation for endorsing the petition.
The 37th Heavy Penal Court sentenced Galatasaray University professors Zeynep Verda İrtiş and Zeynep Savaşçı, and İstanbul University professor Nuray Mert to one year and three months’ imprisonment for their endorsement of the peace petition. The court has suspended the announcement of the verdict, a procedural mechanism in Turkey through which individuals convicted of crimes can avoid prison time so long as they aren’t subsequently convicted of separate offenses.
The 32nd Heavy Penal Court sentenced İstanbul University professors Aslı Aydemir, Ayşe Rezan Tuncay, and Şahika Yüksel to one year and three months imprisonment for their endorsement of the peace petition and suspended the announcement of the verdicts. İstanbul Technical University professor Ayşe Erzan, Marmara University professors Nesrin Sungur Çakmak, and Özdemir Aktan did not accept the suspension of the announcements of their verdicts, and the court found that they had showed “no remorse” for their actions and would therefore serve out their prison sentences.
Scholars at Risk is concerned about the prosecution and imprisonment of scholars in retaliation for the nonviolent exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association, conduct that is expressly protected under international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Turkey is a party. Where they are a part of a widespread pattern, such incidents have a profoundly chilling effect on academic freedom, undermine democratic society generally, and may represent a grave threat to higher education on a national scale. State authorities have an obligation to comply with internationally recognized standards of academic freedom, freedom of expression, and freedom of association, as well as due process and fair trial.
Sources:
http://bianet.org/english/freedom-of-expression/203489-9-academics-sentenced-to-1-year-3-months-in-prison-3-sentences-not-deferred
https://ahvalnews.com/academics-peace/academics-peace-sentenced-prison-kafkaesque-trial