The new Turkey |
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17-Mar-2019 12:12 |
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Arsan is among the 1128 of signatories of a petition which criticised the heavy-handed tactics employed by the Turkish army in predominantly Kurdish cities in the country, including long curfews and the use of heavy weaponry, after a two-and-a-half year ceasefire between the state and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), negotiated by Erdoğan’s government, broke down in July 2015 . “I exercised that freedom granted to me by Constitution and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). There is no crime in place save this. There is no proof of the crimes I am accused of in my indictment. I ask for my acquittal,’’ Arsan told the judge during her last hearing. The court suspended Arsan’s jail sentence for two years. If she does not receive another jail sentence during this time, her sentence will be dismissed. Hundreds signatories of the peace petition lost their jobs with no prospect of working again; some are now subject to travel bans; and some have had their passports revoked, preventing them from working in Turkey or abroad. |
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