The imprisoned politician Ayla Akat Ata and fifty other women in the Sincan prison complex received disciplinary sentences on August 15 for playing Kurdish songs and dancing. The penalty varies between restricting means of communication such as letters or telephone calls and being banned from visiting for one month at a time. The three prisoners, Hanım Yıldırım, Jiyan Ateş, and Rojdan Erez, had their early release canceled due to the trial.
Two prison employees appeared as witnesses in the disciplinary proceedings, but they could only indicate that “Kurdish texts were being read in a loud voice”. There is no reference to the content of the texts in their statements. Detainees have appealed the disciplinary punishment, claiming that singing and dancing is not a criminal offense. To this end, they referred to the corresponding judgments of the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights.
In a hearing before the prison court, prisoner Dilber Tanrikulu declared: “We are Kurdish women. Even if we should be killed or punished, we will continue to say that our mother tongue is Kurdish. “
Ayla Akat Ata said in the hearing: “That day I shouted ‘Bijî Serok Apo’. I’ve done this before and will continue to do so. I am convinced that a democratic solution process will take place and that Abdullah Öcalan will contribute to this process. ”The long-time activist of the Kurdish women’s movement is herself a lawyer. She was in parliament for the HDP and is a founding member of the women’s association Rosa in Amed (Turkish: Diyarbakir). In May of last year, she was arrested with dozens of other people as part of the repression against the women’s association and then released subject to registration requirements. Since October 2020 she has been in prison again, this time due to the “Kobanê investigation”.
Sollte das Vollzugsgericht die verhängten Disziplinarstrafen nicht aufheben, wollen die 51 Frauen das Widerspruchsverfahren in die nächsthöhere Instanz bringen. Bei den Betroffenen handelt es sich um Alev Yarar, Ayşe Topçu, Fatma Aslan, Leyla Uyanık, Mahide Şahin, Mehtap Kıyar, Nevroz Mücel, Nilüfer Şahin, Sariye Taikesen, Simanur Pamuk, Zerrin Yılmaz, Zeynep Sipcik, Arjin Yüksekbağ, Ayla Akat Ata, Dilan Aslan, Ayşe Yağcı, Berin Sarı, Bermal Birtek, Bircan Yorulmaz, Demet Resuloğlu, Dilan Playas, Dilber Tanrıkulu, Dilek Hatipoğlu, Dilek Yağcı, Elif Çetinbaş, Gülşan Piece, Hanım Yıldırım, Hicran Binici, Jiyan Ateş, Melike Kaya, Melike Göksu , Meryem Adıbelli, Holy Kubilay, Holy Pumpkin, Necla Yıldız, Bridesmaid Yaklav, Nuriye Piece, Pervin Oduncu, Pınar Tikit, Rihan Kavak Özbek, Rojdan Erez, Rozerin Kurt, Saadet Akın, Sabite Ekinci, Sedef Demir, Selver İspir, Şermin Demirdağ, Özlem Demir, Süheyla Taş, Zeynep Bingöl and Servin Karakoç.
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