Judicial harassment against the members of Academics for Peace

On 31 October 2019, the Istanbul 37th Heavy Criminal Court turned down the retrial request of an academic who was handed down a deferred one year three month prison sentence for signing the petition publicly known as the “Peace Declaration”.

As of 7 November 2019, 491 signatories have been acquitted of charges of “terrorist propaganda” for having signed the Peace Declaration, following the 26 July 2019 ruling of the Constitutional Court which found that the conviction of ten Academics for Peace violated their right to freedom of expression. Twenty of these acquittals were given after retrial of the defenders and at least in eighteen of these cases, the court had deferred the pronunciation of the judgement.

Between 11 April and 23 July 2019, prison sentences were handed down to 22 academics who signed the peace petition drafted by Academics for Peace in January 2016. They were all sentenced on charges of disseminating “terrorist propaganda”.

Seventeen of the academics received sentences of one year and three months, while one academic received one year, 10 months and 15 days in prison. The Courts deferred the pronouncement of all those judgements.

Four of the academics received prison sentences of between two years and one month and two years and six months. The Courts did not reduce their sentences on the grounds that “their attitude and behaviour during the hearings did not show any expression of remorse about the crime they committed”. Since their prison sentences exceeded two years, the judgements cannot be deferred and the execution of their sentences cannot be suspended. The verdicts have been appealed.

Front Line Defenders condemns the continued judicial harassment against members of Academics for Peace in Turkey, which it believes to be directly related to their peaceful work in defence of the rights of others.

Academic for Peace Ahmet Tuna Altınel was arrested while inquiring about the restriction imposed on his passport at the Civil Registry Office in Balıkesir, on the charge of "propagandising for a terrorist organization" for his participation to a panel discussion organized in France.

Ahmet Tuna Altınel is a professor at the Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University Department of Applied Mathematics and Modelling. In January 2016, as one of 2212 Turkish academics, he signed the petition "We will not be a party to this crime", which condemned the security operations conducted by Turkish authorities in the mostly Kurdish-populated southeastern provinces because of their disastrous impact on the civilian population, and called for a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Together with other signatories, Ahmet Tuna Altınel is facing accusations of "propagandising for a terrorist organisation". His trial remains ongoing.

The human rights defender has been frequently visiting Turkey to attend the trial proceedings of Academics for Peace. In 11 May 2019, upon arrival at the airport, he was told that a travel ban had been issued for him by the Governorship of Balıkesir, and that he could not leave the country. Ahmet Tuna Altınel went to the Civil Registry Office in Balıkesir to inquire about the restriction. While there, he was detained and later arrested to be sent to prison upon the request of the Prosecutor. It has been reported that Ahmet Tuna Altınel was charged with "propagandising for a terrorist organisation", in connection with a panel discussion that he attended as a translator in France.

Since 2016, many Turkish academics have been subjected to human rights violations due to their calls for peace. As of 13 May 2019, 549 members of Academics for Peace have been dismissed from their jobs either directly by their universities or by emergency decrees issued during the last state of emergency. Further, many scholars were forced to resign or retire. Four hundred and six academics lost their right to work in the public sector through statutory decrees. Hundreds have had their passports cancelled and confiscated. Many have not been able to find new jobs due to stigmatisation and some have even received threats. Since the petition was launched, nearly 70 academics have been taken into custody, while four, who gave a press statement to inform the public about the unjust treatment of Academics for Peace, were kept in detention for more than two months.

Currently, 691 academics are facing judicial harassment and the threat of imprisonment. One hundred and ninety have been sentenced on charges of disseminating “terrorist propaganda”. The pronouncement of judgements has been delayed in 152 cases. Thirty four academics have received prison sentences, suspended only in four cases. The legal proceedings concerning 501 academics remain ongoing.

A member of Academics for Peace, Prof. Zübeyde Füsun Üstel, whose 1 year and 3 months prison sentence was upheld on 25 February 2019, is due to begin her prison sentence within ten days. The human rights defender was convicted based on charges of disseminating “terrorist propaganda” for signing a petition drafted in January 2016 by Academics for Peace, calling for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in the mostly Kurdish-populated southeastern provinces. She will be the first Academic for Peace to enter jail.

Zübeyde Füsun Üstel, is a well-known academic in the field of political science. She was a faculty member of the Department of Political Science at Galatasaray University. Apart from her academic studies, she has a long history working in civil society organisations, particularly at Citizens Assembly and History Foundation in Turkey.

Academics for Peace are the signatories of the petition “We will not be a party to this crime!” (also known as the “peace petition”), publicized in January 2016. The petition condemned the security operations conducted by Turkish authorities in the mostly Kurdish-populated southeastern provinces because of their disastrous impact on the civilian population. The petition drew attention to the human rights violations committed during the operations and called for a peaceful resolution to the conflict. In total, 2212 academics signed it. Since then, they have been subjected to numerous human rights violations, including judicial harassment and smear campaigns.

On 4 April 2018, the 32nd High Criminal Court of Istanbul sentenced Zübeyde Füsun Üstel to 1 year and 3 months in jail, based on the charge of disseminating “terrorist propaganda”. As provided in the procedural rules, she was asked by the court whether she wanted the pronouncement of the verdict to be delayed, if the court ruled that such a delay could be applied. The human rights defender refused as this would have denied her a right to appeal her sentence and to further defend her position that calling for peace does not constitute a crime.

Article 231 of the Turkish Criminal Procedure Code allows for the pronouncement of a judgement to be delayed, which does not equate to suspending a sentence. When the pronouncement of a sentence is delayed, this sentence does not have a legal effect on the accused and does not appear in their criminal record, provided that they are not charged with any other crimes during a five year probation period. This provision is particularly relevant to the case of Academics for Peace, since having the verdicts in their criminal records, the academics lose their status as civil servants and with it, the ability to work as scholars at Turkish universities. In accepting a delay, the convict loses the right to launch an appeal of the verdict. Therefore, despite the risk of losing their ability to work as scholars, some of the defendants, including Zübeyde Füsun Üstel, have refused to accept the delay of the pronouncement of the judgement in order to retain the right to appeal.

The 32nd High Criminal Court of Istanbul did not suspend the execution of Zübeyde Füsun Üstel’s sentence, on the grounds that the human rights defender had not shown any remorse regarding the alleged crime. On 25 February 2019, the 3rd Panel Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice upheld the verdict in her case, thus making it final. On 30 April 2019, the he human rights defender received official notice stating that she should surrender herself to court to begin her prison term within ten days.

This is the first case concerning Academics for Peace which has been ruled on by the Court of Appeals. Therefore, this ruling is likely to set a precedent for other related cases pending appeal.

Since 2016, many Turkish academics, including Zübeyde Füsun Üstel, have been subjected to human rights violations due to their calls for peace. As of 30 April 2019, 549 members of Academics for Peace have been dismissed from their jobs either directly by their universities or by emergency decrees issued during the last state of emergency. Further, many scholars were forced to resign or retire. Four hundred and six academics lost their right to work in the public sector through statutory decrees. Hundreds have had their passports cancelled and confiscated. Many have not been able to find new jobs due to stigmatisation and some have even received threats. Since the petition was launched, nearly 70 academics have been taken into custody, while four, who gave a press statement to inform the public about the unjust treatment of Academics for Peace, were kept in detention for more than two months.

Currently, 691 academics are facing judicial harassment and the threat of imprisonment. One hundred and eighty five have been sentenced on charges of disseminating “terrorist propaganda”. The pronouncement of judgements has been delayed in 149 cases. Thirty six academics, including Zübeyde Füsun Üstel, have received prison sentences, suspended only in four cases. The legal proceedings concerning 506 academics remain ongoing.

On 25 February 2019, the 3rd Panel Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice upheld the 15 month prison sentence for Prof. Zubeyde Fusun Ustel which was handed down by the 32nd High Criminal Court on 4 April 2018. Prof. Ustel was charged with “terrorist propaganda” for signing a peace petition drafted by Academics for Peace in January 2016. With this decision, her sentence is now final. The human rights defender did not accept an option to have her verdict suspended under Article 231 of the Turkish Law on Criminal Courts. If she had done so, she would have been subject to supervision during a probation term of five years. During this time, if she were to be found guilty of any other crime, her original sentence would have been added to any new sentence handed down.

One of the three judges on the panel opposed the verdict stating that the human rights defender’s offence did not constitute "propaganda of a terrorist organisation" but it rather constituted "degrading the state", and so she should instead be tried under Article 301 of the Law on Criminal Courts.

This is the first Academics for Peace case which has been ruled on by the Court of Appeals. There are 27 further cases waiting to be heard.

From 26 October to 17 December 2018, the first hearings of more than 100 members of Academics for Peace were held, and prison sentences were handed down to 28 academics. They were all sentenced on charges of creating “terrorist propaganda” for having signed the peace petition drafted by Academics for Peace in January 2016. While 23 academics received suspended prison sentences of one year and three months and one year and six months, the sentences of five academics were not suspended and they received prison sentences of between one year and three months and two years and three months.

In the case of Prof. Dr. Gençay Gürsoy who received a two year and three month prison sentence on 11 December 2018, Istanbul’s 37th High Criminal Court refused to reduce his prison time on the grounds that he did not show remorse for signing the petition and behaved “improperly” during the hearings. The Court further stated that he continued to promote the petition via press interviews and on his social media account. The academic was not given the opportunity to present a statement on the press interview and his social media posts, which were recently added to his case file.

Academics for Peace is an organisation founded in November 2012 that unites more than 2,000 individuals supporting peace in the south-east of Turkey. To date, the first hearings of 429 academics have been concluded, and criminal proceedings against many others are ongoing. Sixty two academics, including the 28 mentioned above, received prison sentences, the longest being two years and three months. All sentences were suspended, except for seven cases, including the cases of Füsun Üstel and Büşra Ersanlı. Should their appeal be unsuccessful, the seven academics will be detained to begin serving their sentences.

On 25 September 2018, the hearings of 11 members of Academics for Peace concluded in Istanbul’s various criminal courts. The 28th High Criminal Court sentenced two academics to one year and three months in prison on charges of creating “terrorist propaganda” for having signed the peace petition drafted by Academics for Peace in January 2016. The sentences of two academics were suspended. The cases of the other nine academics remain ongoing.

Academics for Peace is an organisation founded in November 2012 that unites more than 2,000 individuals supporting peace in the South-East of Turkey. To date, the first hearings of 279 academics have been concluded, and criminal proceedings against many others are ongoing. Twenty-five academics, including the two mentioned above, were sentenced to one year and three months in prison. All sentences were suspended, except in the cases of Füsun Üstel and Büşra Ersanlı.

On 5 June 2018, the hearing of two members of Academics for Peace was held in Istanbul’s 32nd High Criminal Court. One of the academics had requested the removal of a judge from the panel on the basis of bias, but their request was refused. Both were charged with disseminating “terrorist propaganda” for having signed a peace petition drafted by Academics for Peace and sentenced to one year and three months in prison. One academic’s sentence was suspended; the other did not request that their sentence be suspended.

Criminal proceedings against Academics for Peace are ongoing and to date, the first hearings of 241 petition signatories have concluded and 15 academics have been sentenced to one year and three months in prison. All 15 sentences were suspended except for two. A schedule of upcoming hearings can be viewed on Academics for Peace’s website.

On 4 April 2018, the third hearing of three academics concluded in Istanbul’s 32nd High Criminal Court. On 5 April 2018, the second hearing of two academics concluded in Istanbul’s 36th Criminal Court. All five are among the 1,128 academics facing trial on charges of disseminating ‘terrorist propaganda’ for having signed a peace petition drafted by Academics for Peace.

Academics for Peace is an organisation founded in November 2012 which unites more than 2,000 individuals supporting peace in south eastern Turkey.

On 23 February 2018, the prosecutor called for the academics to be charged with producing and disseminating “terrorist propaganda” under Turkish Anti Terror Law 7/2.

On 4 April, during their third hearing, the court sentenced Veli Polat and Zübeyde Füsun Üstel to one year and three months in prison. Veli Polat’s sentence was suspended, but Zübeyde Füsun Üstel’s was not, as the court believed she was insufficiently remorseful for her crime. The hearing of a third academic, Yasemin Gülsüm Acar, was ultimately rescheduled for 12 April 2018. 

On 5 April, Melda Tunçay and Tevfik Hakan Ongan were each given suspended sentences of 1 year and 3 months.

On 23 September 2017, signatories of the petition were charged with producing and disseminating “terrorist propaganda” under Turkish Anti Terror Law 7/2  in an indictment published by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. To date, seven of the 1,128 academics have been sentenced. While these seven were sentenced to one year and three months in prison, all terms were suspended with the exception of that of Zübeyde Füsun Üstel.

Front Line Defenders condemns the continuing judicial harassment against the members of Academics for Peace in Turkey, which it believes is related to their peaceful work in defence of the rights of others.

On 5 December 2017, the first hearings of 10 academics, who are among the 1,128 academics facing trial for having signed the peace petition released by Academics for Peace, concluded in the Istanbul 35th High Criminal Court.

The petition signatories are being charged under Turkish Anti Terror Law 7/2. During the hearing, the Court rejected defence requests for acquittal and other requests for the charges to be reduced to infractions under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (insulting Turkey, the Turkish nation, or Turkish government institutions). Requests for additional time to prepare defences were granted and their next hearing is due to take place on 12 April 2018.

Academics for Peace is an organisation founded in November 2012 which unites more than 2,000 individuals supporting peace in the south-east of Turkey. On 23 September 2017, members of Academics for Peace who signed a petition called “we will not be a party to this crime” were accused of producing and disseminating “terrorist propaganda” in an indictment published by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. If found guilty of these charges, the signatories will face up to seven and a half years in prison.

The Courts intend to hear the cases of 148 petition signatories by 17 May 2018.

On 1 September 2016, the Turkish government passed three new state of emergency decrees, which paved the way for the dismissals of more than 40,000 public empoyees, who were accused to have links with Fethullah Gulen. The Turkish government has blamed Fethullah's followers for the attempted coup on 15 July 2016.

Among the 2346 academics who were sacked there were also 44 members of the movement Academics for Peace, including professor Dr. Ümit Biçer, Member of the Board of Directors of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, and faculty member of the Forensic Medicine Department at the Kocaeli University.

Download the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey Urgent Appeal (PDF)

The human rights situation in Turkey is rapidly deteriorating, with the government embarking on a massive crackdown on human rights defenders and on civil society following the failed attempt of the Turkish military to overthrow the government of President Erdoğan. The repression against the voices critical of the government and its policies has further intensified with the introduction of a state of emergency on 20 July 2016. In particular, Front Line Defenders is concerned about the severe restrictions on freedom of expression, speech and assembly introduced in the country, as these limitations can have a significant negative impact on the legitimate and peaceful work of human rights defenders in the country.

On 11 April 2016, Academics for Peace published the following letter, addressed to the foreign Ambassadors in Turkey, inviting them to observe the first hearing scheduled for 22 April.

We, the Academics for Peace (Barış İçin Akademisyenler, BAK) are writing to you to draw your attention to the first court hearing in the case against four of our colleagues, Ass. Prof. Esra Mungan Gürsoy, Ass. Prof. Meral Camcı, Assoc. Prof. Kıvanç Ersoy and Ass. Prof. Muzaffer Kaya, which will take place on 22nd April, 2016 in İstanbul, Çağlayan Courthouse, at 2:00 PM.

Since 15th March and 31st March, 2016 respectively, the four have been held as pre-trial detainees, accused of "making propaganda of the terrorist organization PKK/KCK" under Article 7/2 of Anti-Terror Law. The indictment refers to a press statement which the four read out on 10th March 2016 and the original petition “We will not be a party to this crime”, which was signed by 1128 individuals and made public on 11th January, 2016.

Following the petition, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has repeatedly targeted the signees as "a gang who name themselves as academicians", "so-called intellectuals", arguing that “the people who talk like the members of terrorist organizations are just the same as the members of terrorist organizations”. Most recently, referring to this trial, he publically declared that our colleagues should “remain in prison throughout the trial” as they were “guilty”.

Over the past months, his words have triggered a lynch campaign in local and national-wide mainstream and social media presenting a serious general and personal threat to the physical integrity of the signees, disciplinary instigations in a majority of the universities, dismissals and forced resignations, as well as detentions, house searches, and legal prosecutions against the whole group of signees. As an initial reaction , nearly one thousand more academics joined in signing the declaration, hence, now, the total number of signatories amounts to 2212.

The press statement read out by Esra Mungan Gürsoy, Muzaffer Kaya, Kıvanç Ersoy and Meral Camci on 10th March, 2016 was issued by BAK Istanbul to inform the public about precisely this unjust treatment against the signees of the original petition, especially about the administrative investigations and prosecutions. As a result, these four have been detained and an indictment has been prepared for them, while the investigations against the rest of the academics are progressively continuing. The indictment has been approved by the Istanbul 13th Heavy Penalty Court and the first hearing of the trial will be held on 22nd April, 2016. The accusation requires an imprisonment from 1,5 years to 7,5 years.

This trial is a clear breach of freedom of expression, and should not just be regarded as a case against the academics, but rather a trial against freedom of expression in the whole of Turkey. It should be noted that Turkey is already placed at the top with 300 applications to the ECtHR regarding violation of freedom of expression.

Hence, we would like to kindly invite you to be present at the court on the 22nd April, 2016, to observe the first hearing. We believe that your presence will not only give a strong sign of support for peace, democracy, and freedom of expression in Turkey, but will also have a positive effect on the fairness of the trial of our colleagues.

If you have any further question, please do not hesitate to contact us at any point in time.

Thank you in advance for your kind interest,

Academics for Peace