(WiPC/IFEX) – On 2 October 1997, the next hearing of Recep Marasli’s case will be held at the Ankara State Security Court. Marasli, a publisher and poet, remains in pre-trial detention, despite urgent requests from doctors in Turkey, as well as from national and international human rights groups, that Marasli be freed to receive medical […]
(WiPC/IFEX) – On 2 October 1997, the next hearing of Recep
Marasli’s case will be held at the Ankara State Security Court.
Marasli, a publisher and poet, remains in pre-trial detention,
despite urgent requests from doctors in Turkey, as well as from
national and international human rights groups, that Marasli be
freed to receive medical attention for neurological problems.
Doctors report that, in prison, Marasli is being denied necessary
medical attention and that his condition is deteriorating.
**Updates IFEX alerts dated 20 May and 19 March 1997**
Background Information
Marasli is on trial on charges under the “Anti-Terror Law” for
alleged membership of “PRK-Rizgari”, a small radical pro-Kurdish
group. The organization’s main activities are to produce
materials promoting Kurdish political and cultural rights. The
charges have been pending against Marasli for a number of years.
Marasli has been detained since his arrest on 6 March 1997.
Now aged 41, Marasli was first imprisoned when he was 16 for his
articles published in newspapers in Erezum. He subsequently
became a publisher for Komal, which focusses on the Kurdish
community in Turkey. In 1982, he was arrested for his
publications and given a total of 36 years in prison. In 1984, he
went on hunger strike which led to permanent neurological damage.
He was freed under a general amnesty in April 1991 on condition
that he did not “re-offend”. He continued to write and speak on
Kurdish issues. In September 1993, Marasli was issued with an
arrest warrant for taking part in a debate in which he called for
a peaceful solution to the conflict in the south-east. He went
into hiding, only to be arrested in July 1994. On his arrest he
is said to have suffered severe torture. He was freed pending
trial. In November 1995, he was sentenced to one year and four
months’ imprisonment for his writings. He subsequently went into
hiding while the sentence went to appeal. Other charges are
pending against him, some of which are in legal process. Marasli
was re-arrested in March 1997 as he attempted to leave Turkey
with his wife to receive medical treatment (see IFEX alerts).
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
charges which appear to be in contravention of his right to
freedom of expression
and the discontinuation of further legal processes against him
that his detention is extremely detrimental to his well-being
provided with all necessary medical attention as a matter of
urgency
Appeals To
His Excellency Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz
Basbakanlik
06573 Ankara
Turkey
Fax: +90 312 417 0476/230 8896State Minister for Human Rights
Lugtu Esengun
Office of the Prime Minister
Basbakanlik
06573 Ankara
Turkey
Fax: +90 312 417 0476Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Disisleri Bakanligi
06100 Ankara
Turkey
Fax: +90 312 419 1547
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
