A Turkish food engineer and human rights activist was sentenced yesterday to 15 months in jail after publishing the results of a study he and other scientists had done that linked toxic pollution to a high incidence of cancer in western Turkey.
ARTICLE 19 condemns the sentencing of academic Bülent Şık on 26 September for revealing public health risks in a Cumhuriyet newspaper article published in 2018.
Academic for Peace Hakan Mertcan has been acquitted in all three lawsuits filed against him: “If I tell you I am not happy at all, if I tell you I conscientiously didn’t need such a verdict by a non-independent judiciary, it is not a lie, believe me…”
While bianet columnist and food engineer Asst. Prof. Bülent Şık has been acquitted of “provision of prohibited information”, he has been sentenced to 1 year, 3 months in prison for “disclosure of information about duty”. His sentence has not been deferred.
bianet columnist and food engineer Asst. Prof. Bülent Şık has had his third hearing in the lawsuit filed against him on the ground that he shared the findings of the project conducted by the Ministry of Health.
On 26 September 2019, lawyers defending academic Bülent Şik submitted ARTICLE 19’s expert opinion in a case in which he was charged of disclosure of prohibited and confidential information and securing prohibited information. If found guilty, Şik would face a custodial sentence of 5 to 12 years.
ARTICLE 19 submits that the prosecution of Şık in this case violates his right to freedom of expression, as it constitutes a disproportionate interference that is not necessary in a democratic society.
Ahead of the expected verdict for academic Dr Bülent Şık, who faces up to twelve years in jail for “disclosing classified information” after revealing the findings of his research that exposed toxic pollution that was a risk to public health, Amnesty international’s Senior Campaigner on Turkey Milena Buyum said:
Bulent Sik, a former Turkish academic, is charged with releasing research information he thought needed to be released to ensure the public safety. His hearing will be held on September 26th.
Having their final hearings in İstanbul and Kocaeli, four more academics have been acquitted in the wake of a verdict of “right violation” by the Constitutional Court. Academics for Peace have been acquitted by 17 courts across Turkey so far.
HDP MP Toğrul has submitted a law proposal to the parliament for the Academics for Peace who were expelled by Statutory Decrees to return to their posts.
Peoples' Democratic Party MP Dr. Mahmut Toğrul has submitted a law proposal to the Speaker's Office at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) for the return of the signatories of the Peace Declaration to their posts.
