Student Receives 3 Years of Prison Over One Day Boycott

Sedat Altunay, a math major at Dicle University in Diyarbakır province, has been serving in prison for charges related to a student boycott that he attended in 2009 to commemorate the killing of Aydın Erdem-- a campus friend.

"I'm not so proud of this, but I used to be such an apolitical student in college. I wasn't affiliated with any student group or political organization," Altunay wrote bianet.

"Before I was jailed, I was a junior in college and I still am," he said.

Altunay wrote he did not even have a disciplinary record in his education history. "Until my first detention, I had nothing to do with the police. It was December 6, 2009. Our friend Aydın Erdem was killed and we went out to protest that."

In September 2012, a Diyarbakir court ordered Sedat Altunay to serve 14 years and 6 months of prison for committing "terror crimes as a non-affiliated individual", an interpretation for his boycott protests and throwing stones--only and only at the latest protest--at police.

"I attended two school boycotts, which cost me 3 years each," he said. "The court said I was blocking education. What about their blocking of my education for the past three years? What about their blocking of my future?"

While some of similar convicts' sentences were reduced to 10 years, Altunay did not benefit from certain reductions due to his status. "I testified in Kurdish and they charged me with making propaganda in Kurdish. Like most people living in this region, I was timid to express the ongoing injustice in this country. But I can't stand anymore."

Leyla Altunay, Sedat's sister, complained bianet that his brother has been transferred to three different prisons in three years.

"First, there was an outrage in Urfa Prison. He was exiled to Mardin Prison. Back in Urfa, the conditions were poor but he was able to get in touch with us. Now commuting to Mardin is creating challenges for us, especially economically."

Leyla Altunay also started a Facebook page to support her brother's cause. (AS)