Ragıp ZARAKOLU
Publisher, human rights activist, and PEN Türkiye member Ragıp Zarakolu, was arrested in October 2011 and is facing a sentence of up to 15 years in prison in Türkiye on bogus terrorism charges in connection with a speech he made at an event by the now defunct pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy (BDP) party…
Merdan YANARDAĞ
On 10 December 2024, writer and PEN Türkiye member Merdan Yanardağ was retried in Istanbul on charges of insulting the Turkish nation, the Republic of Türkiye, the institutions and organs of the state (Article 301 of Türkiye’s Penal Code), in relation to his column ‘Düzenin Mafyalaşması’ (The Mafia-ization of the System)…
Meral ŞIMŞEK
Throughout 2024, writer, poet, and Kurdish PEN member Meral Şimşek continued to be on trial, appealing against a 15-month prison sentence imposed by the Malatya 2nd High Criminal Court in Malatya province, eastern Türkiye on 7 October 2021, after it convicted her of ‘making terrorist propaganda’…
Professor Şebnem Korur FINCANCI
Prominent academic, forensic scientist, and leading human rights defender, Professor Şebnem Korur Fincancı remained on trial throughout 2024 in relation to restrained comments made in 2022 during a live interview regarding the possible use of chemical weapons by Türkiye’s armed forces against members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)…
Yavuz EKINCI
Kurdish writer Yavuz Ekinci faces up to seven and a half years in prison on bogus terrorism propaganda grounds for his book Rüyası Bölünenler (Dream Divided). His trial opened in Istanbul in September 2024…
Can DÜNDAR
Can Dündar, then editor of the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet, continues to appeal against a lengthy prison term and is on trial on other charges (see Case Lists 2014 – 2023/2024). Dündar was detained on 26 November 2015 alongside his Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gül on terrorism and espionage charges, in connection with a May 2015 story published by…
Gulgeç AKDENIZ (pen name Gulgeş DERYASPÎ)
Writer and Kurdish PEN member Gulgeç Akdeniz – pen name Gulgeş Deryaspî – remained on trial at the end of the year, appealing a six-year three-month prison term imposed after conviction on 3 December 2020 of ‘membership of a terrorist organisation’ under Article 314/2 of Türkiye’s Penal Code. She denies any wrongdoing…
Mehmet Osman KAVALA
Publisher, civil and cultural rights activist, and philanthropist Osman Kavala continues to serve a life sentence upheld on 28 September 2023 by Türkiye’s Court of Cassation. The court also upheld 18-year prison sentences against his co-defendants Çiğdem Mater, Can Atalay, Mine Özerden and Tayfun Kahraman (three other defendants – Mücella Yapıcı, Hakan Altınay and Yiğit Ali Ekmekçi – were acquitted in February 2025)…
Selahattin DEMIRTAŞ
On 16 May 2024, the Ankara 22nd Heavy Penal Court found writer and former co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Selahattin Demirtaş, guilty of ‘aiding in undermining the unity and integrity of the state’, ‘incitement to commit a crime’ and ‘making terrorist propaganda’, sentencing him to a combined total of 42 years in prison…
Hrant DINK
Impunity continues for the murder of Hrant Dink, author and editor of the Armenian language magazine Agos, killed outside his office in Istanbul on 19 January 2007. In July 2011, 17-year-old Ogün Samast was sentenced to 22 years and 10 months in prison for Dink’s murder…