MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

Amed– Free Women’s Movement Term Spokesperson Ayşe Gökkan, who has waged women’s struggle for years, was sentenced to 30 years in prison (October 20) on charges of “being a member of a (terrorist) organization” and “helping the (terrorist) organization”. Until now, Ayşe Gökkan has been detained 80 times and tried eight times on charges of “being a member of a (terrorist) organization” and more than 200 investigations have been launched against her. Women across Turkey continue to react to the verdict against her. “We are women, Kurdish and here,” wrote women’s associations on their social media accounts in order to protest the verdict.

“The aim of the verdict is to intimidate women”

Lawyers of Ayşe Gökhan applied to the Court of Appeal for the reverse of the verdict. Lawyer Özüm Vurgun, the Co-chair of the Lawyers Association for Freedom Amed Branch, spoke to our news agency about the prison sentence against Ayşe Gökkan. Indicating that the aim of the verdict is to intimidate women in women’s struggle, Özüm Vurgun said that Ayşe Gökkan was strong when she left the hearing room after the announcement of the verdict.

“She was tried by an unfair court”

Stating that Ayşe Gökkan’s right to a fair trial was violated, Özüm Vurgun said that the exact reason for the prison sentence is still unclear. “The reason for the prison sentence will be clarified in the detailed ruling. There are many irregularities in the case file against Ayşe Gökkan. She faced problems with the translation of her defense. The merged files weren’t sent to the prison and Ayşe Gökkan didn’t know the accusations against her because she didn’t receive the files. For this reason, Ayşe Gökkan couldn’t defend herself during the hearing. Her lawyers were attacked in the hearing before the final hearing. We don’t know the exact reason for the prison sentence against her.”

“People are tried once for the same crime”

Ayşe Gökkan has been separately sentenced to prison on the charge of “being a member of a (terrorist) organization) twice. Stating that being tried many times for the same crime is unlawful, Özüm Vurgun said, “She was convicted twice for the same crime. I haven’t seen such a thing before.”

“Women's struggle is the biggest fear of the ruling party”

“The ruling party wants to give a message to women because women’s struggle is the biggest fear of the ruling party. The current process is a process aiming to destroy and intimidate the women’s struggle. The verdict against Ayşe Gökkan shows the fear of the ruling party against women’s struggle,” Özüm Vurgun told us.

“Ayşe Gökkan's resistance gives us hope”

The prison sentence against Ayşe Gökkan strengthens women more, Özüm Vurgun said, “Ayşe Gökkan is a woman who has worked for women's struggle for a long time and spent her life in women's struggle. The verdict was a message to women struggling for the rights of women. After the announcement of the verdict, Ayşe Gökkan was stronger. She gives us hope. Her resistance gives us hope. We say we are women, Kurds, and here.”