|
Asiye Güzel Zeybek was editor-in-chief of Atilim, the magazine of the banned Marxist-Leninist Communist Party in Turkey. She also worked on a related publication, Isçinin Yolu (Worker's Path). She was born into a traditional Sunni Muslim family and studied political science and literature at the university for two years before becoming involved in leftist politics and radical youth groups. An article she published in Isçinin Yolu led to a short term of imprisonment in 1994.
Case history:
Zeybek was arrested together with 10 others in February 1997 during a
demonstration protesting alleged links between the Mafia and the
government. She is accused under Article 168 of the Penal Code of
membership of "an illegal organization," the Marxist-Leninist Communist
Party, which is considered by the authorities to be supporting armed
organizations working for Kurdish independence. The indictment
specifically accused her of running and distributing Isçinin Yolu in 1994.
During a trial hearing on October 8, 1997 Zeybek claimed to have been raped while under interrogation. Her complaint against eight policemen was accepted after a report from the Psycho-Social Traumatology Center in Istanbul confirmed the attack. As a result an investigation was initiated, but despite the fact that the Medical Faculty of Istanbul University presented evidence of the trauma that Zeybek had suffered, in October 1999, the rape charges were dropped after the investigation found "no proof of guilt." Hers is just one of over 100 accusations of reported police rape of prisoners in Turkish jails. In October 1999 she published Iskencede Bir Tecavüz Öyküsü (Rape under torture; Ceylan Publishers, Istanbul), a book that gives a graphic account of the abuse she suffered at the hands of the police.
In December 2000, Zeybek was among hundreds of inmates protesting against the transfer from her prison in Gebze, to new style detention centers where there are concerns that prisoners are more likely to be abused. Zeybek was reportedly hit by bullets in her back and leg during a police raid on her prison in December 2000. She suffered temporary paralysis and reportedly has not fully recovered from her injuries.
On June 5, 2002, after spending five years and four months in prison without having been convicted of any crime, Zeybek was released pending court decision. However, on October 16 she was sentenced by the Istanbul State Security Court in absentia to 12 and one-half years in prison for involvement in an "illegal" organization. Zeybek was, when the sentence was announced, in Sweden to receive the PEN Tucholsky Award, granted annually to writers who have been persecuted, threatened, or in exile.
Current status:
Zeybek lodged an appeal to the Supreme Court against the sentence and remains in Sweden,
as she is not required to return to Turkey while her case is under appeal. It has been
reported that Asiye Güzel Zeybek's book on her experiences in prison is currently under
investigation by the security services.
Asiye Güzel Zeybek is also and Honorary Member of the Canadian, English,
Ghanaian, Netherlands, San Miguel de Allende, Swedish, and Swiss Romande PEN Centers.
PEN is shocked by the length of the sentence against Asiye Güzel Zeybek and urges that
her extraordinarily long pre-trial detention, as well as other concerns about ill treatment
while she was detained, be taken into account by the appeal court. It urges that she not
be forced to return to prison.