A new hearing in the trial of Pinar Selek during uncertain times in Turkey

On April 25th at 10:30 a.m., a new hea­ring in the trial of Pinar Selek will take place at the Istan­bul Cour­thouse. Pinar Selek is a wri­ter and socio­lo­gist living in Nice, France. After 27 years, 4 acquit­tals, and irre­fu­table evi­dence of her com­plete inno­cence, Pinar Selek remains threa­te­ned with a pos­sible life sen­tence in Tur­key for an attack that never occur­red.

Exi­led in France and a French citi­zen, Selek is a lec­tu­rer in socio­lo­gy and poli­ti­cal sciences at Uni­ver­si­té Côte d’Azur in Nice. She conti­nues to fight for jus­tice, demo­cra­cy, human rights and peace. By tar­ge­ting Selek and her research on mino­ri­ty groups, the Tur­kish judi­cial sys­tem is also atta­cking aca­de­mic free­doms. While major figures such as Ange­la Davis, Annie Ernaux, and Narges Moham­ma­di – Nobel Peace Prize lau­reate – have publi­cly sup­por­ted her, Pinar Selek needs – now more than ever – sup­port from elec­ted offi­cials and legal repre­sen­ta­tives, to put an end to the night­mare. On April 25th, Pinar Selek must final­ly be freed from the false and unfoun­ded accu­sa­tions that have obs­truc­ted her life for so many years.

The recent arrest of Istan­bul Mayor Ekrem Ima­mo­glu and about fif­ty of his col­la­bo­ra­tors, the deten­tion of over 2,000 pro­tes­ters in less than a week, or the arrests mid-Februa­ry of over 300 people accu­sed of being “alle­ged mem­bers of ter­ro­rist orga­ni­za­tions” while Anka­ra nego­tiates with the PKK lea­der, all change the context of Pinar Selek’s trial. These events show a mani­fest inten­tion to sup­press any poli­ti­cal oppo­si­tion, and to seve­re­ly hin­der demo­cra­cy and the rule of law.

In this situa­tion, inter­na­tio­nal mobi­li­za­tion is more cri­ti­cal than ever to secure Pinar Selek’s defi­ni­tive acquit­tal and to send a strong mes­sage to the poli­ti­cal pri­so­ners cur­rent­ly impri­so­ned in Tur­key. Beyond defen­ding Pinar Selek from relent­less judi­cial harass­ment, defen­ding her cause means pro­tec­ting free­dom of expres­sion, aca­de­mic inde­pen­dence and, more gene­ral­ly, demo­cra­tic rights. The­re­fore, a strong inter­na­tio­nal dele­ga­tion will once again gather in Istan­bul to express stead­fast soli­da­ri­ty with Pinar Selek and to call for the uphol­ding of the law.