University Student Edemir Released after Conviction
University student Hüseyin Edemir was sentenced to imprisonment of six years and three months on charges of "membership of the Party and Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of the Turkish People" (DHKP-C). The decision was taken by the Istanbul 10th High Criminal Court at the fifth hearing of the trial held on Thursday (12 June). Edemir was released after 1.5 years in detention in the Edirne F Type Prison.
bianet talked to lawyer Oya Aslan. She said that Edemir was not allowed to leave the country. "His file was forwarded to the Court of Appeals 9th Chamber. He will have to go back to prison if the verdict for the punishment should be upheld", Aslan said.
Arrested on day of engagement
Edemir graduated from the renowned Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) in 2008 and is now preparing to continue university in Germany. He was in detention for 17 months throughout the whole trial procedure.
Hüseyin Edemir was admitted to a full grant for the Turkish-German Social Sciences Master's Program after his graduation from the ODTÜ History Department. During his first year in the program, he was taken into police custody on 31 January 2010 on the course of a General Information Scanning (GBT). He was arrested on 1 January 2010 under allegations of "membership of a terrorist organization".
In 2005, an investigation was launched about Edemir because his name was mentioned in documents seized in the scope of a police operation in 2001. An arrest warrant was issued about Edemir in 2009. He stood accused of membership of the DHKP-C that also includes an armed wing.
Edemir stated that his grant was cancelled because of the allegations put up against him. He was going to continue his Master's program this year at the Humboldt University in Berlin/Germany. Edemir was also going to get engaged to his girl-friend Sevgi Göğulter upon his return to Turkey.
Not able to continue education
Edemir was taken into police custody just hours before the engagement ceremony. He was then arrested on the grounds of his participation in certain actions as an undergraduate student and because of documents allegedly seized in the Netherlands and Belgium eleven and twelve years earlier.
The document dated from eleven years ago was seized in the scope of a raid on the office of a legal magazine called Gençlik ('Youth'). Edemir claimed that this document as saved on a hard disc was forged. According to the graduate student, a number of experts confirmed that the document was falsified. Edemir had previously been tried by reason of his participation in protest actions and was acquitted.
He requested to attend examinations of the master's program after he was arrested. However, he was not able to continue his academic education because he did not have the financial means to cover the transport to Ankara and his personal expenditure.
Petitions and appeals remained unanswered
Edemir stayed in three different prisons during the period of his detention. Initially, he was taken to Metris Prison in Istanbul. From there, he was transferred to the Tekirdağ F Type Prison (west of Istanbul) and finally brought to the F Type Prison in Edirne (further west) in 2011. Edemir wrote petitions and letters to the Parliamentary Human Rights Commission, the prosecutor's office and all other addressed authorities and institutions but did not receive any reply.
His friends supported Edemir with the "Freedom for Hüseyin Initiative". They prepared a video clip entitled "Take me too" and said "Take us too when he is in prison". (AS/VK)