(WiPC/IFEX) – On 16 October 2002, Asiye Güzel Zeybek, a former editor of a radical newspaper, was sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison for involvement in an “illegal” organisation. Zeybek, who was released in June pending the court decision, lodged an appeal against the sentence with the Supreme Court. She remains free […]
(WiPC/IFEX) – On 16 October 2002, Asiye Güzel Zeybek, a former editor of a radical newspaper, was sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison for involvement in an “illegal” organisation. Zeybek, who was released in June pending the court decision, lodged an appeal against the sentence with the Supreme Court. She remains free pending the appeal hearing. International PEN is shocked by the length of Zeybek’s sentence and urges that her extraordinarily long pre-trial detention, as well as other concerns about ill-treatment while she was detained, be taken into account by the appeal court. The organisation urges that she not be forced to return to prison.
Zeybek was sentenced by the Istanbul State Security Court, in absentia, to 12 and a half years in prison, alongside three other defendants who received similar terms. When the sentence was announced, Zeybek was in Sweden to receive the PEN Tucholsky Award, granted annually to writers who have been persecuted, threatened or are in exile. She is not required to return to Turkey while her case is under appeal. It has been reported that Zeybek’s book on her experiences in prison is currently under investigation by the security services.
Background Information
Arrested in February 1997 during a demonstration protesting alleged links between Mafia groups and the government, Zeybek, now aged 31, was held in pre-trial detention until her release on 5 June 2002 pending the outcome of her trial. Accused for her connections with the Marxist-Leninist
Communist Party (MLCP, now defunct), Zeybek is being tried under Article 168 of the Turkish Penal Code for membership in an “illegal organisation”. The indictment, dating from 21 June 1994, accuses her of running and distributing the MLCP journal” Isçinin Yolu” (“Worker’s Path”). During an 8 October 1997 trial hearing, Zeybek claimed to have been raped while under interrogation at the Istanbul Security Directorate Political Department. On 24 October 1997, her complaint against eight policemen was accepted following a report confirming the attack from the Psycho-Social Traumatology Centre in Istanbul. The officers were brought to trial in November 1998. However, on 1 November 2000, the court decided not to proceed with the eight policemen’s prosecution.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
– expressing shock at the heavy sentence served against Zeybek on 16 October, after an extremely lengthy five-year judicial process
– pointing out that Zeybek is appealing the sentence
– urging that Zeybek’s extremely long period of detention without conviction be taken into consideration by the Supreme Court in its deliberation of her appeal
– referring to concerns that Zeybek’s allegations of rape while in police custody were not fully investigated and asking that there be a review of the decision not to proceed with the investigation into her alleged persecutors
Appeals To
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit
Basbakanlik
Cankaya
Ankara, Turkey
Fax: +90 312 417 0476
Aysel Çelìkel
Minister of Justice
Adalet Bakaligi
06440 Bakaniklar
Ankara, Turkey
Fax: +90 312 417 3954
It is recommended that you copy your appeals to the Turkish embassies in your country, as well as lobby your own country representatives in Turkey and your government’s foreign affairs department, asking that they also raise Zeybek’s case with the appropriate officials in Turkey.
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
