Woman human rights defender Eren Keskin sentenced

On 15 February 2021, the Istanbul 23rd Heavy Penal Court sentenced woman human rights defender Eren Keskin to six years and three months for “membership of an armed terrorist organisation” in the Özgür Gündem newspaper “Main Trial”. The newspaper’s publisher and the managing editor were also sentenced to six years and three months for “membership of a terrorist organisation”, while the co-chief editor was handed a one year and thirteen month [sic] sentence for “making propaganda of a terrorist organisation”. The court found Eren Keskin and others not guilty of the charge of “disrupting the unity and the integrity of the state.”

Eren Keskin is a long-standing woman human rights defender, a human rights lawyer, founder of Gözaltında Cinsel Taciz ve Tecavüze Karşı Hukuki Yardım Bürosu (Legal Aid Bureau against Sexual Harassment and Rape in Custody) and the co-chair of the Human Rights Association in Turkey. She is the recipient of several human rights awards including Aachen Peace Award, Theodor Haecker Prize for Civic Courage and Political Integrity, Helsinki Civil Society Award and is a former finalist of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders.

The woman human rights defender acted as the chief editor of Özgür Gündem newspaper between 2014 and 2015 at a time when many lawsuits were being brought against the editors, writers and journalists of the newspaper. The newspaper was later shut down by the Turkish government in 2016 and a criminal lawsuit was initiated against nine of its editors, writers and advisory board members.

The Istanbul 23rd Heavy Penal Court turned down the request of the Istanbul 13th Heavy Penal Court to merge the aforementioned case with the case files of three human rights defenders, Şebnem Korur Fincancı, Erol Önderoğlu and Ahmet Nesin, who are being retried for participation in a campaign of solidarity with Özgür Gündem newspaper. The three defenders were acquitted of “terrorist propaganda” by the Istanbul 13th Heavy Penal Code but the acquittal was quashed by the court of appeals, which argued that the case files of the three defenders must be merged with the Ozgur Gundem main trial.

Eren Keskin has faced a slew of charges and judicial harassment as a result of her human rights work. Due to her position as co-chief editor of Özgür Gündem daily, she has been linked to several cases in which she has been sentenced to over 15 years and has been fined tens of thousands of euros.

Front Line Defenders condemns the persistent targeting of Eren Keskin and the human rights defenders who showed solidarity with the Özgür Gündem newspaper. Front Line Defenders expresses its deep concern that the case against Eren Keskin is politically motivated and aims to punish the woman human rights defender for defending freedom of expression and media freedom for over three decades.

On 10 October 2018, the 10th hearing of the Özgür Gündem “Main Trial” was held in Istanbul’s 23rd High Criminal Court. Former editor-in-chief of the newspaper Özgür Gündem, Eren Keskin is one of the nine defendants in the case. The Court lifted the travel ban on Eren Keskin but she is still facing up to 24 years in prison on various charges. The next hearing is scheduled for 17 January 2019.

Eren Keskin is among nine Özgür Gündem journalists, editors, and advisory board members who are facing charges in this case. All nine are being charged with “disrupting the unity and integrity of the State” under Article 302, “establishing an organisation for the purpose of committing crime” under Article 220 and “being a member of an armed organisation” under Article 314 of the Turkish Criminal Code, as well as charges of terrorist propaganda under various articles of the Turkish Anti-Terror Code. Kemal Sancılı, one of the defendants facing charges in this case, remains in detention.

Until now, more than 100 lawsuits have been filed against Eren Keskin for her work as editor-in-chief of Özgür Gündem. On 30 March 2018 she was charged with "degrading the Turkish nation, the Republic, institutions and organs of the state" under Article 301 of the Turkish Criminal Code, and with "insulting the President of the Republic of Turkey" under Article 299 of the Turkish Criminal Code. She was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, which her lawyer has appealed. Should her appeal be unsuccessful she will be detained to begin serving her sentence. She has also been ordered to pay a cumulative amount of 72 000 Turkish Liras (approximately 10 000 Euro), and an additional amount of 460 000 (approximately 65 000 Euro) remains under review before the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court.