TURKEY: Peace activists sentenced for 'separatist propaganda'

Ruth Riordan, Istanbul

Twenty-four women have been sentenced to 12 months' jail each after being found guilty of voicing "separatist propaganda". The women, aged between 40 and 75 years, are members of the Peace Mothers initiative, which has worked since 1999 to mediate between warring parties within the Kurdish region and between Kurdish and Turkish forces.

The Turkish Daily News reported that the women had chained themselves together and blocked traffic in the south-eastern city of Diyarbakir, calling for a general amnesty and an end to isolation in prisons. The women also carried a banner that read: "Mr Ocalan is our political will." Abdullah Ocalan is the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Ocalan and many other political prisoners in Turkey are held in solitary confinement.

The women's lawyer, Meral Bestas, said: "The demonstration and the slogans were aimed at peace. It was an innocent act and should be protected under the freedom of expression. If not, the court will be punishing a call for peace."

The women were arrested on February 22 and freed after spending two months in jail. If the Supreme Court of Appeals approves the sentences, the women will return to jail for a further 10 months.

From Green Left Weekly, July 26, 2006.

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From GLW issue 676