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Professor Șebnem Korur Fincancı at a demonstration in Türkiye. © Turkish Medical Association
the Turkish military in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. During the live interview, she stated the images could be consistent with the after-effects of chemical weapons use and that there should be an investigation to ascertain the veracity of the claims.
After returning to Türkiye, Prof Fincancı was arrested following a police raid of her home in Istanbul. She was put in pre-trial detention and a criminal investigation launched against her. In January 2023, she was convicted of the trumped-up charges of ‘making propaganda for a terrorist organisation’ and sentenced to two years, eight months and 15 days in prison.
Further charges
Prof Fincancı is currently awaiting the result of an appeal, but also faces additional charges linked to her human rights work. This February, she was questioned over comments she had made during another interview in July 2021. In it she was asked about her expert opinion regarding the possible torture of an individual who had been kidnapped and returned to Türkiye from Kyrgyzstan, based on photographs President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan shared in a broadcast. At the same time, she was targeted by a smear campaign – one of many she has faced over the years. This campaign on social media sought to discredit her past work on torture, claiming that she had issued reports without
examining the individuals – allegations she has comprehensively refuted. In June, Prof Fincancı was hit with another new indictment, after being accused of ‘denigrating the Turkish state’ under article 301 of the penal code over comments made in a broadcast interview in 2021. During the interview, she compared photographs of an abducted suspect who appeared to have been tortured to images of prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison during the war in Iraq. If her appeals fail and she is convicted in all these cases, she faces the prospect of more than seven years in prison, as well as substantial fines.
A wider issue
The targeting of Prof Fincancı is one of the most acute and visible examples of the ever- worsening human rights situation in Türkiye. Human rights defenders in the country face severe restrictions and intensifying pressures. Prominent and outspoken activists such as Prof Fincancı are repeatedly targeted in criminal prosecutions, which aim to silence them and send a message to the rest of society that speaking out for human rights comes with a price.
Despite these attacks, Prof Fincancı remains steadfast: ‘I have never had the habit of bowing to any authority to this day.’
WINTER 2024 AMNESTY 15
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