IFEX
Initiative for Freedom of Expression - Turkey
, PEN American Center
, Writers in Prison Committee, PEN International
On 30 April, prominent translator and cultural and women's rights activist Ayşe Berktay won the 2013 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award.
But she was not there in New York to accept the award. Instead, she is
currently in jail in Turkey, awaiting the next hearing of her trial on
27 May. She could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Police arrested Berktay on 3 October 2011, and she was eventually
charged under the Anti-Terror Law with “membership of an illegal
organisation” for allegedly “planning to stage demonstrations aimed at
destabilising the state, plotting to encourage women to throw themselves
under police vehicles so as to create a furor, and attending meetings
outside Turkey on behalf of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK),” a
banned pro-Kurdish party.
Anti-terrorism legislation has long been used by the authorities to
justify the jailing of writers, publishers, journalists, academics, and
politicians in Turkey. In November 2012, a PEN International delegation
visited Ankara to express concern about the alarming rise in
prosecutions of writers and journalists in the last two years, noting
that more than 70 writers and journalists are currently in prison, and
at least 60 other writers, publishers, and journalists are on trial.
Some journalists were released at the end of April pending trial, but not Berktay.
Will you join PEN American Center, PEN International, the Initiative for Freedom of Expression in Turkey and two dozen other IFEX member organisations worldwide who signed an appeal to free her?
Please sign the petition calling on the Minister of Justice
to free Berktay and all those jailed in violation of their right to free
expression now!
Do you have a story to tell? Contact 'Let's Hear You!' and let us know! news@letshearyou.com
