Turkish sociologist and feminist, Pinar Selek, faces life in prison if found guilty. - See more at: http://www.pen-international.org/newsitems/turkey-pen-condemns-continuing-judicial-harassment-of-pinar-selek/#sthash.MsgTvSSk.dpuf

(London, 5 December 2014) The ongoing judicial harassment of Pınar Selek makes a mockery of the Turkish justice system, PEN International, PEN American Center, and German PEN said today. Selek, a Turkish sociologist and feminist, faces renewed charges of involvement in the 1998 Istanbul Spice Bazaar explosion after today’s hearing at the 15th High Criminal Court in Istanbul. Selek faces life in prison if found guilty.
‘Pınar Selek’s 16-year ordeal feels more like a chapter out of Kafka than a serious judicial undertaking,’ said Katy Glenn Bass, Deputy Director of Free Expression Programs at PEN American Center. ‘This is the fifth time Selek has been tried, in the absence of any reliable evidence implicating her in the case.’
Selek has been on trial for 16 years over a 1998 explosion that killed seven and injured 100 in the Istanbul Spice Bazaar. Selek has been acquitted of all charges three times (in 2006, 2008 and 2011) due to the testimony of expert witnesses that claimed that the cause of the explosion was a gas leak rather than a bomb, though courts have ordered retrials after each of these acquittals. Her fourth trial resulted in a conviction in January 2013 when Selek was handed an aggravated life sentence, although this conviction was overturned by Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals on 11 June 2014 on procedural grounds. Selek has fled Turkey as a result of the judicial harassment against her and now lives abroad.
‘After 16 years of trials and retrials, the Turkish government should be embarrassed that this case remains on the court’s docket. It is long past time to end Pınar Selek’s judicial persecution and acquit her of all charges,’ said Carles Torner, Executive Director of PEN International.
‘Pinar Selek was in our Writers-in-Exile Program from December 2009 until November 2011. We are deeply shocked that this political and judicial scandal has not yet come to an end. All our sympathy and solidarity are with Pinar and her family and friends’, said Regula Venske, General Secretary of German PEN. The next hearing of Selek’s trial will be held on 19 December 2014.
Related
Turkey: PEN concerned by continuing judicial harassment of Pınar Selek 
Turkey: PEN to observe sociologist Pınar Selek’s hearing
For further information please contact Alev Yaman at PEN International Writers in Prison Committee, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER, Tel: +44 (0) 20 7405 0338, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7405 0339, Email: [email protected]
- See more at: http://www.pen-international.org/newsitems/turkey-pen-condemns-continuing-judicial-harassment-of-pinar-selek/#sthash.MsgTvSSk.dpuf
London, 5 December 2014) The ongoing judicial harassment of Pınar Selek makes a mockery of the Turkish justice system, PEN International, PEN American Center, and German PEN said today. Selek, a Turkish sociologist and feminist, faces renewed charges of involvement in the 1998 Istanbul Spice Bazaar explosion after today’s hearing at the 15th High Criminal Court in Istanbul. Selek faces life in prison if found guilty.

‘Pınar Selek’s 16-year ordeal feels more like a chapter out of Kafka than a serious judicial undertaking,’ said Katy Glenn Bass, Deputy Director of Free Expression Programs at PEN American Center. ‘This is the fifth time Selek has been tried, in the absence of any reliable evidence implicating her in the case.’

Selek has been on trial for 16 years over a 1998 explosion that killed seven and injured 100 in the Istanbul Spice Bazaar. Selek has been acquitted of all charges three times (in 2006, 2008 and 2011) due to the testimony of expert witnesses that claimed that the cause of the explosion was a gas leak rather than a bomb, though courts have ordered retrials after each of these acquittals. Her fourth trial resulted in a conviction in January 2013 when Selek was handed an aggravated life sentence, although this conviction was overturned by Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals on 11 June 2014 on procedural grounds. Selek has fled Turkey as a result of the judicial harassment against her and now lives abroad.

‘After 16 years of trials and retrials, the Turkish government should be embarrassed that this case remains on the court’s docket. It is long past time to end Pınar Selek’s judicial persecution and acquit her of all charges,’ said Carles Torner, Executive Director of PEN International.

‘Pinar Selek was in our Writers-in-Exile Program from December 2009 until November 2011. We are deeply shocked that this political and judicial scandal has not yet come to an end. All our sympathy and solidarity are with Pinar and her family and friends’, said Regula Venske, General Secretary of German PEN. The next hearing of Selek’s trial will be held on 19 December 2014.

Related

Turkey: PEN concerned by continuing judicial harassment of Pınar Selek 
Turkey: PEN to observe sociologist Pınar Selek’s hearing

For further information please contact Alev Yaman at PEN International Writers in Prison Committee, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER, Tel: +44 (0) 20 7405 0338, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7405 0339, Email: [email protected]

- See more at: http://www.pen-international.org/newsitems/turkey-pen-condemns-continuing-judicial-harassment-of-pinar-selek/#sthash.MsgTvSSk.dpuf(London, 5 December 2014) The ongoing judicial harassment of Pınar Selek makes a mockery of the Turkish justice system, PEN International, PEN American Center, and German PEN said today. Selek, a Turkish sociologist and feminist, faces renewed charges of involvement in the 1998 Istanbul Spice Bazaar explosion after today’s hearing at the 15th High Criminal Court in Istanbul. Selek faces life in prison if found guilty.
‘Pınar Selek’s 16-year ordeal feels more like a chapter out of Kafka than a serious judicial undertaking,’ said Katy Glenn Bass, Deputy Director of Free Expression Programs at PEN American Center. ‘This is the fifth time Selek has been tried, in the absence of any reliable evidence implicating her in the case.’
Selek has been on trial for 16 years over a 1998 explosion that killed seven and injured 100 in the Istanbul Spice Bazaar. Selek has been acquitted of all charges three times (in 2006, 2008 and 2011) due to the testimony of expert witnesses that claimed that the cause of the explosion was a gas leak rather than a bomb, though courts have ordered retrials after each of these acquittals. Her fourth trial resulted in a conviction in January 2013 when Selek was handed an aggravated life sentence, although this conviction was overturned by Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals on 11 June 2014 on procedural grounds. Selek has fled Turkey as a result of the judicial harassment against her and now lives abroad.
‘After 16 years of trials and retrials, the Turkish government should be embarrassed that this case remains on the court’s docket. It is long past time to end Pınar Selek’s judicial persecution and acquit her of all charges,’ said Carles Torner, Executive Director of PEN International.
‘Pinar Selek was in our Writers-in-Exile Program from December 2009 until November 2011. We are deeply shocked that this political and judicial scandal has not yet come to an end. All our sympathy and solidarity are with Pinar and her family and friends’, said Regula Venske, General Secretary of German PEN. The next hearing of Selek’s trial will be held on 19 December 2014.
Related
Turkey: PEN concerned by continuing judicial harassment of Pınar Selek 
Turkey: PEN to observe sociologist Pınar Selek’s hearing
For further information please contact Alev Yaman at PEN International Writers in Prison Committee, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER, Tel: +44 (0) 20 7405 0338, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7405 0339, Email: [email protected]
- See more at: http://www.pen-international.org/newsitems/turkey-pen-condemns-continuing-judicial-harassment-of-pinar-selek/#sthash.MsgTvSSk.dpuf
(London, 5 December 2014) The ongoing judicial harassment of Pınar Selek makes a mockery of the Turkish justice system, PEN International, PEN American Center, and German PEN said today. Selek, a Turkish sociologist and feminist, faces renewed charges of involvement in the 1998 Istanbul Spice Bazaar explosion after today’s hearing at the 15th High Criminal Court in Istanbul. Selek faces life in prison if found guilty.
‘Pınar Selek’s 16-year ordeal feels more like a chapter out of Kafka than a serious judicial undertaking,’ said Katy Glenn Bass, Deputy Director of Free Expression Programs at PEN American Center. ‘This is the fifth time Selek has been tried, in the absence of any reliable evidence implicating her in the case.’
Selek has been on trial for 16 years over a 1998 explosion that killed seven and injured 100 in the Istanbul Spice Bazaar. Selek has been acquitted of all charges three times (in 2006, 2008 and 2011) due to the testimony of expert witnesses that claimed that the cause of the explosion was a gas leak rather than a bomb, though courts have ordered retrials after each of these acquittals. Her fourth trial resulted in a conviction in January 2013 when Selek was handed an aggravated life sentence, although this conviction was overturned by Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals on 11 June 2014 on procedural grounds. Selek has fled Turkey as a result of the judicial harassment against her and now lives abroad.
‘After 16 years of trials and retrials, the Turkish government should be embarrassed that this case remains on the court’s docket. It is long past time to end Pınar Selek’s judicial persecution and acquit her of all charges,’ said Carles Torner, Executive Director of PEN International.
‘Pinar Selek was in our Writers-in-Exile Program from December 2009 until November 2011. We are deeply shocked that this political and judicial scandal has not yet come to an end. All our sympathy and solidarity are with Pinar and her family and friends’, said Regula Venske, General Secretary of German PEN. The next hearing of Selek’s trial will be held on 19 December 2014.
Related
Turkey: PEN concerned by continuing judicial harassment of Pınar Selek 
Turkey: PEN to observe sociologist Pınar Selek’s hearing
For further information please contact Alev Yaman at PEN International Writers in Prison Committee, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER, Tel: +44 (0) 20 7405 0338, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7405 0339, Email: [email protected]
- See more at: http://www.pen-international.org/newsitems/turkey-pen-condemns-continuing-judicial-harassment-of-pinar-selek/#sthash.MsgTvSSk.dpuf
(London, 5 December 2014) The ongoing judicial harassment of Pınar Selek makes a mockery of the Turkish justice system, PEN International, PEN American Center, and German PEN said today. Selek, a Turkish sociologist and feminist, faces renewed charges of involvement in the 1998 Istanbul Spice Bazaar explosion after today’s hearing at the 15th High Criminal Court in Istanbul. Selek faces life in prison if found guilty.
‘Pınar Selek’s 16-year ordeal feels more like a chapter out of Kafka than a serious judicial undertaking,’ said Katy Glenn Bass, Deputy Director of Free Expression Programs at PEN American Center. ‘This is the fifth time Selek has been tried, in the absence of any reliable evidence implicating her in the case.’
Selek has been on trial for 16 years over a 1998 explosion that killed seven and injured 100 in the Istanbul Spice Bazaar. Selek has been acquitted of all charges three times (in 2006, 2008 and 2011) due to the testimony of expert witnesses that claimed that the cause of the explosion was a gas leak rather than a bomb, though courts have ordered retrials after each of these acquittals. Her fourth trial resulted in a conviction in January 2013 when Selek was handed an aggravated life sentence, although this conviction was overturned by Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals on 11 June 2014 on procedural grounds. Selek has fled Turkey as a result of the judicial harassment against her and now lives abroad.
‘After 16 years of trials and retrials, the Turkish government should be embarrassed that this case remains on the court’s docket. It is long past time to end Pınar Selek’s judicial persecution and acquit her of all charges,’ said Carles Torner, Executive Director of PEN International.
‘Pinar Selek was in our Writers-in-Exile Program from December 2009 until November 2011. We are deeply shocked that this political and judicial scandal has not yet come to an end. All our sympathy and solidarity are with Pinar and her family and friends’, said Regula Venske, General Secretary of German PEN. The next hearing of Selek’s trial will be held on 19 December 2014.
Related
Turkey: PEN concerned by continuing judicial harassment of Pınar Selek 
Turkey: PEN to observe sociologist Pınar Selek’s hearing
For further information please contact Alev Yaman at PEN International Writers in Prison Committee, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER, Tel: +44 (0) 20 7405 0338, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7405 0339, Email: [email protected]
- See more at: http://www.pen-international.org/newsitems/turkey-pen-condemns-continuing-judicial-harassment-of-pinar-selek/#sthash.MsgTvSSk.dpuf