Call for Support to the Academics under Judicial Harassment
Turkish
scholars have been subject to heavy pressures and constraints since the
declaration of the petition “We’ll not be a party to this crime”
launched by the Academics for Peace initiative in mid-January.
In
Mersin, a middle-sized city on the Mediterranean Coast, this climate of
pressure has been experienced in an accentuated manner as the
twenty-one petitioners of the city's University have since then faced
very serious threats and sanctions.
In
contradiction to all traditional practices and even to legislations,
the university administration has cancelled the contracts of three
assistant professors, two lecturers and one research assistant since
last January.
And
now, a group of these scholars in Mersin are threatened by serious
juridical accusations that were launched obviously in relation with the
petition. These lawsuits that may end up with prison sentences are as
follows:
1-
The first case was launched against assistant professors Hakan Mertcan,
Mustafa Şener and Selim Çakmaklı for the charge of “insult of the
president” due to their Facebook messages.
2-
Again due to their social media messages, they are sued for “propaganda
of terrorist organisation” as well as “provocation of the people for
hatred and hostility”. The hearing of this second case in which research
assistant Esin Gülsen is also accused will be held on the July 12th,
2016 in Mersin.
3-
In addition to these two cases, the public prosecution office of Mersin
carries out an investigation against Mertcan, Gülsen and Çakmaklı for
“insult of institutions and organs of the Turkish state” through
Facebook messages. These academicians thus risk a third lawsuit.
4-
Apart from Facebook messages, two of the petitioners, Mustafa Şener and
Atilla Güney are sued for violation of the law on meetings and
demonstrations due to a public statement that they participated. The
hearing of this case will take place on the July 13th, 2016.
5-
Last but not the least, Prof. Atilla Güney is sued for ungrounded
charges related to his presidency of a charity organisation supported by
the Municipality of Akdeniz governed by the pro-Kurdish HDP.
In
short, this group of petitioners in Mersin are threatened by prison
sentences up to 14,5 years for just using their elementary rights of
freedom of opinion and expression. If they are also sued for “insult of
institutions and organs of the Turkish state”, this prison risk may
amount up to 21,5 years.
The gravity and the urgency of the situation in Mersin is obvious.
Therefore,
we urge for the support and the concern of the democratic international
community to the scholars at both professional and juridical risks in
Mersin. For this purpose, we invite all those who can, to attend to the
hearings on July 12th and 13th in Mersin.
For
those who won’t manage to be physically with us on these days, we ask
them to send us short videos of support recorded by their phones,
tablets or webcams (max. ten seconds during which we hear your name,
title, institution and words of support to our colleagues) to "mersin.bak@gmail.com".
We
shall organise a press meeting to share your messages to demonstrate
the support of the international community to our colleagues.
