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. Freed pending trial on 10 April 2012, Zarakolu, who has been living in Sweden since 2013 and holds Swedish citizenship, continues to be harassed by the authorities of Türkiye.  

In May 2017, police officers raided Belge Publishing House, which he founded in 1977 with his late wife Ayşe, and seized over 2,000 books. In July 2018, the Istanbul 3rd High Criminal Court submitted a request for an Interpol Red Notice, a mechanism used to locate and provisionally arrest an individual pending extradition. In December 2019, Sweden’s Supreme Court rejected an extradition request from Türkiye on the grounds that the allegations against Zarakolu would not be considered a crime under Swedish law, and that an extradition would breach Article 3 (prohibition of torture) and Article 6 (right to a fair trial) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The authorities of Türkiye subsequently confiscated all of Zarakolu’s assets in Türkiye and froze his pension. In September 2020, the European Court of Human Rights found Türkiye in violation of Article 5 (right to liberty and security) and Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights regarding Zarakolu’s arrest and ordered it to pay him EUR6,500 (approximately USD7,700) in compensation. In May 2022, Zarakolu was named by Turkish state media as one of the individuals wanted for extradition by Türkiye in exchange for the country allowing Sweden to join NATO. The eventual memorandum signed did not list any individuals. 

Ragıp Zarakolu, born in 1948, is a well-known political activist who has been fighting for freedom of expression in Türkiye for over 30 years, publishing books on issues such as minority and human rights.