JINHA

İSTANBUL – The trial of four academics, who have been jailed for signing declaration of peace, began. Jailed academic Esra Mungan stated in the court case that “I have right to insist on calling the state for peace. We have been jailed for weeks unjustly. I demand a democratic country where people live equally.”


Psychologist Esra Mungan at Boğaziçi University, mathematician Kıvanç Ersoy from Mimar Sinan University, political scientist Muzaffer Kaya from Nişantaşı University and Assist. Prof. Dr. Meral Camcı from Yeni Yüzyıl University were arrested and are being held in prison for signing declaration of peace. The first trial of the academics began in Istanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan. As the lawyers of academics and four jailed academics have attended the trial, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Figen Yüksekdağ, the Republican People's Party (CHP) MPs, many academics, journalists Can Dündar and Erdem Gül and many people have followed the trial.


The academic and defendant Assist. Prof. Dr. Muzaffer Kaya first began to defend himself by saying, “We are the academics of this country. We couldn’t remain silence against what is going on around us. Our declaration is a statement containing warning and demands from government.”

Then, Assist. Prof. Dr. Esra Mungan defended herself by saying, “I demand a real and lasting peace. I demand a democratic country where people live equally with their difference. We called on the state, because the state is our only interlocutor. The citizens form the state. We aren’t the slaves of the state; we are the citizens of the state. We supported the negotiation process as academics. We told that we would support for the peace. We called on the people, who broke the table; rebuild the table while the number of killing people cannot be counted. The statement is about the rights. More than 2,000 academics were able to come together despite all pressure. I have right to insist on calling the state for peace. We have been jailed for weeks unjustly. I demand a democratic country where people live equally.”

The trial continues with the defense of Kıvanç Ersoy.


(ekip/dk/gd)