On April 5, 2019, Turkey’s 25th, 27th and 32nd Heavy Penal Courts reportedly convicted and sentenced five academic personnel to fifteen months imprisonment on charges of “propagandizing for a terrorist organization.” The charges are in connection to their 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 convicted academics include Onur Buğra Kolcu, of Arel University; Aytül Fırat, of Kemerburgaz University; Elif Çevik and Murat Koyuncu, from Boğaziçi University; and Galip Deniz Altınay, of Mersin University. The courts suspended the announcement of the verdicts, a procedural mechanism in Turkey through which individuals convicted of crimes can avoid prison time so long as they are not subsequently convicted of separate offenses.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about the prosecution 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/207147-5-more-academics-sentenced-to-1-year-3-months-in-prison
https://ahvalnews.com/tr/baris-akademisyenleri/bes-baris-akademisyenine-daha-hapis-cezasi-verildi
https://www.info-turk.be/488.htm