Academic Büşra Ersanlı receives jail sentence for ‘terror propaganda’
ISTANBUL
A court in Istanbul on June 5 sentenced retired Professor Büşra Ersanlı to 15 months in jail on charges of “making propaganda for a terrorist group.”
Ersanlı was one of the academics who signed the January 2016 letter titled “We will not be a party to this crime!”
Some 2,000 academics as part of the group “Academics for Peace” called for an end to security operations in Turkey’s southeast.
The third hearing of the Ersanlı case took place at the Istanbul 32nd Criminal Court on June 5.
At the court, Ersanlı rejected all accusations and called for her acquittal.
Her lawyer, Aynur Tuncel Yazgan, argued that the letter should be considered as part of freedom of expression and it therefore does not constitute a crime.
However, the panel of judges sentenced Ersanlı to 15 months in jail on charges of carrying out propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The court has not suspended the sentence.
