Stephen Reicher

The procedure was identical for all. First the accused explained that they felt a moral obligation to sign the petition: the doctors to end human suffering, the social scientists to improve the conduct of social affairs, and all to make their country a more harmonious place.

Then the defece lawyer explained forensically how this could not be construed as ‘supporting terrorism’, using points of law to challenge the process and show that defendants were simply using their constitutional and human right to free expression.

As this went on, the Prosecuter and Judge studiously ignored proceedings. They looked at their mobile phones, fiddled with their computers, yawned, stretched, took a drink. The clear message: I don’t need to hear your arguments. I’ve got the power to proceed regardless.

After defendants had finished the Prosecutor simply read a script taken from previous trials to assert that signing the petition was supporting terrorism. He made no attempt to answer anything that had been said by defendants or their lawyer.

The Judge then did likewise with his legal judgement (in the past this has been so crass that the judge failed to change the name and mentioned a past defendant)! The sentence was then handed down – identical in every case. 15 months in jail, but suspended if guilt was accepted.

At one point the defence layer said that what destroyed her was the fact that the prosecution and lawyer didn’t even bother to answer her legal points but simply handed down a pre-decided verdict. There was no legal rationale, just political expediency.

The judge exploded. He shouted, gesticulated, went red in the face – then denied that he was angry, he was just upset at being told he was angry. He said that he didn’t use his legal opinion because the media would use it against him! Everyone laughed. The judge went even redder.

And so the Kafkaesque farce in this Castle of Injustice concluded. 10 people branded terrorists for wanting peace. Legal argument ignored in a law court. And also, a young Ph.D. student, now branded a criminal and her academic career in Turkey destroyed.