Academic Accused of "Membership of Güler Zere Organization"

Yalçın Çakmak, Research Assistant at the Tunceli University Department of History, is being tried because he spoke out for the release of fatally ill prisoner Güler Zere. Zere, ill with 4^th-grade cancer, was finally released from prison in November 2009 and passed away in May 2010.

Çakmak stated, "I did not commit a crime. I used my right to freedom of expression as guaranteed by the constitution. Additionally, it was my moral responsibility to do so".

A trial was launched against a total of six defendants, including Çakmak, before the Hozat Criminal Court of First Instance (central Anatolia) under allegations of "praising crime and a criminal". The charges stemmed from a protest march organized on 1 August 2009 by the Solidarity Association of Prisoners' Families (TAYAD) with the request to release critically ill Güler Zere. Çakmak and the other five defendants attended both the demonstration and the subsequent press release.

One year after the case had been opened, the court decided for lack of jurisdiction after the anticipated punishment was deemed "too low", as Çakmak put it.

The file was transferred to the Malatya 3^rd High Criminal Court where a trial was opened on charges of "making propaganda for an illegal organization" according to Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMK). Çakmak is summoned to give his statement on 21 October. The first hearing is scheduled for 24 November.

Evidence: Chanting slogans

Defendants Çakmak, Ersin Kahraman, Özgür Can Kurtulmaz, Mehmet Ali Aslan, Ercan Çetin and Ali Yamaç stand accused of having shouted the slogans "Freedom to Güler Zere", "Güler Zere should be released", "We do not want mercy but justice", "If revolutionaries are being arrested it is to our honour". A video showing the defendants chanting these slogans and the police record are the only pieces of evidence in the case file.

The indictment does not specify which terroristic organization the propaganda was supposedly made for.

Güler Zere was released from prison upon the pardon of President Abdullah Gül. In a letter addressed at Gül Çakmak wrote, "I do not understand what kind of offence I committed by voicing the guaranteed rights of a convict who was pardoned by you".

The letter continued, "Just like many of my colleagues, I take efforts to create ideas for the problems in this country in order not to harm the decency of my academic identity. In accordance with my moral and intellectual responsibility I stood up against all sorts of rights violations. On the other hand I was suffering from this several times (...)".

Çakmak did not receive any reply.

Released just before her death

Zere was sentenced to imprisonment of 34 years. She developed palatal cancer after 14 years in jail. A tumour in her mouth was detected in November 2008 when she was incarcerated at the Elbistan Prison.

As the result of her applications, the Elbistan Prosecution requested a report of the Çukurova University Department of Forensic Medicine. On 22 June 2009, the department said that "Zere can be counted as severely disabled, her life is under severe risk, she depends on the care and observation of others. It is not possible to carry out her intensive and demanding treatment, which includes radiotherapy, under prison conditions. It would be suitable to defer her sentence until she is better."

On 25 June, the prosecution asked whether the hospital's prisoner's ward was suitable and was told that it was not. However, the prosecutor did not accept this report by itself and sent Zere on a 14-hour journey to Istanbul for an examination by the Forensic Medical Institute.

The Contemporary Lawyers' Association (ÇHD) has filed a criminal complaint against the prosecutor for that reason.

The report of the Forensic Medicine Institute needed for Zere's release was issued in November 2009. Zere was released on 6 November 2009 upon the pardon of President Gül and died seven months later.

Zere's joint attorneys applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on the grounds of her belated release and a violation of the prohibition of torture. The case is still pending. (AS/VK)