Protesting violence against women seen as crime to sentence Ayşe Gökkan to prison

Tevgera Jinên Azad (TJA) Term Spokesperson Ayşe Gökkan was sentenced to 30 years in prison at the final hearing of her trial held on 20 October at Diyarbakır 9th High Criminal Court. She was charged with “being a leader of a terrorist organization” and “being a member of a terrorist organization”. The court sentenced Gökkan to 12 years and 7 years and 6 months on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization”, and sentenced her to 7 years and 6 months on the charge of “willingly helping a terrorist organization” and 3 years in prison on the charge of “making propaganda for a terrorist organization”.

The court has now published its reasoned decision for the sentence handed out to Gökkan.

In the reasoning of the sentence, the press statements that Gökkan participated in, the speeches she made, the activities of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK), and her memberships in the Kongreya Jinên Azad (KJA) and Rosa Women’s Association, which were established with the permission of the Governor’s Office were listed as motivating the sentence.

Rosa Women’s Association, of which Gökkan is a member and still officially continuing its activities, was described as “illegal” in the reasoned decision. It was claimed that the association’s press release in Yenişehir district, together with TJA, to “protest the Execution Law and violence against women” on 16 May 2020, was actually considered “propaganda for an illegal organization”. The reasoned decision also added that Gökkan used the word “Kurdistan” in the action, and this was also shown as evidence of crime.

Gökkan’s participation in the press release regarding the indefinite and irreversible hunger strike launched by DTK co-chair Leyla Güven in prison was also considered as evidence of the accusations against her.

The decision also included the prosecution file issued against Gökkan in Mardin regarding the “Democratic solution tent” established in 2011 when she was the mayor of Nusaybin, which was later merged with the case file in Amed.

Gökkan was acquitted in this case, but the case was reopened after the prosecutor’s office objected to the decision. In her defense, Gökkan said that she received permission from the Governor’s Office and District Governor’s Office to set up the tent, and that it was the Governor’s and district Governor’s proposal to set up the tent in the garden of the cultural center.

In its reasoned decision, the court ruled that Gökkan’s actions “created a serious threat to democratic life”.