Jailed Professor Zubeyde Fusun Ustel was released from prison while serving a 15-month prison sentence over signing a joint peace declaration in Turkey in 2016, Gazete Duvar reported on Monday.
“What has been lived through was a violation of rights. For all of us, the process was exhausting due to the problems in terms of the execution regime [in Turkey]. Right now, I can say that the execution [of the sentence] has been suspended. We are very happy,” said Sennur Baybuga, Ustel’s lawyer.
The attorney said a ruling was previously made for Ustel to be transferred to an open prison, but it was prevented first by an objection from the prosecutor, and later by court verdicts.
The professor’s release came before a meeting of the Turkish Constitutional Court (AYM) to review 10 academics’ appeals, including that of Ustel, scheduled for July 26.
The Turkish Court of Appeal had upheld the sentence for the professor by a majority vote in March. Later in May, she was sent to the Eskisehir Women’s Closed Prison, becoming the first academic who was jailed due to the declaration.
The signed petition showed support for Kurdish prisoners’ demands for peace voiced through a hunger strike, denouncing military operations against Kurds and calling for a peaceful end to Turkey’s three-decades-old conflict with Kurdish rebels in Turkey’s southeast.
A total of 1,128 staff from 90 Turkish universities, called the Academics for Peace, became the first group to sign the petition in 2012.
At least 1,000 more academics, later on, signed the declaration entitled, “We will not be a party to this crime”, over the heavy clashes in Kurdish cities between security forces and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in early 2016 which destroyed residential areas.
Listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the PKK has been fighting for self-rule in the predominantly Kurdish region southeast of Turkey since the 1980s.
The scholars’ declarations sparked a backlash from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Shortly after, the academics were labeled as terrorists by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Turkish judicial authorities sought prison sentences for the academics on charges of disseminating terrorist propaganda.
A total of 610 academics have been currently facing trial for signing the petition.
The Turkish courts have handed down decisions for 190 academics so far, with thirty-four, including Ustel, receiving prison sentences.
Thirty-three are waiting for their cases to be settled, according to Sezgin Tanrikulu, a lawmaker from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
Under a two-year emergency rule declared following a coup attempt in July 2016, hundreds of peace petitioners have lost their jobs and some have been subjected to travel bans and their passports revoked.
The post Turkey releases first academic jailed for signing peace declaration appeared first on IPA NEWS.
from IPA NEWS https://ipa.news/2019/07/23/turkey-releases-first-academic-jailed-for-signing-peace-declaration/
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