Kurdish PEN member, author, and poet Meral Şimşek was sued with the accusation of “terrorist organization membership” up to 15 years of imprisonment and for “terrorist organization propaganda” up to 7 years and 6 months imprisonment. At the last hearing that was delayed for change of the expert and held at Malatya 2nd High Criminal Court, Şimşek was acquitted for “terrorist organization membership,” however; she was sentenced to 1 year and 3 months of imprisonment due to “terrorist organization propaganda.” The court did not defer the announcement of the verdict and judicial review measures on Şimşek were lifted.
PEN International organized a campaign in August 2021 and made a call for solidarity with the Turkish legal authorities to dismiss the cases about Meral Şimşek. Şimşek’s case was followed also by Amnesty Turkey.
TAG: Imprisonment , Meral Şimşek , PEN International , Propaganda -, Terrorist Organization Membership , PEN International , poet, author
