Turkey, Conscientious objector Mehmet Tarhan is free!!
Anarchist gay conscientious objector Mehmet Tarhan has been released today (March 9th, 2006) following the decision of the Military Criminal Court of Cassation located in Ankara.
Mehmet has been in Sivas military prison since April 2005 and was sentenced to four years of imprisonment by the local military court. After the decision of the upper court calling for his release, he has taken to the local recruitment center and later in the evening he has been relased from there.
About a month ago ECHR has convicted Turkey to pay 11.000 euros for a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (about the prohibition of degrading treatment) on another conscientious objector Osman Murat Ülke's case. This decision was expected to have a positive impact on Mehmet Tarhan's case.
Mehmet Tarhan's struggle is widely supported by anti-authoritarians, anarchists, gays-lesbians and anti-militarists in Turkey and worldwide. Lots of campaigns has been organized in more than 15 countries including a day of international solidarity with Mehmet Tarhan.
This page can be viewed in
English Italiano Deutsch 
make this your Anarkismo.net front page
Thursday March 09, 2006 23:05
by B.Ö. / ainfos
printable version
Digg this
del.icio.us
Furl
Reddit
Technorati
Facebook
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (5 of 5)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5I am glad Turkey is changing. This is a positive step for humanity in Turkey. Freedom for one is freedom for all.
That's right - it is better than the past. However, yet Mehmet and tens of other army objectors are facing risk of arrest and torture. In someway, they are forced to live in a kind of "civilian death" -in ECHR's terms. In anycase it still seems quite far to have the right of conscientious objection in here.
and an important step, with so many yet to take ....... note what even the relatively friendly latest US department human rights report has to say....
I rejoice for Mehmet in person, now that he is in better surroundings. On the other hand, nothing has changed legally. Mehmet is now provisionally "free", but this freedom is not unconditional - they can put him behind bars for the same offense whenever they feel like it. All the publicity and the recent EHRC decision regarding Mr. Ulke has made him something of a hot potato, a bit hot to handle for now. They let him out to cool their fingers a bit, so to speak. The activism should continue unabated, if what Mehmet Tarhan and others before and after him should not suffer in vain.
Tarhan is free only until Monday. After that he will be deemed a deserter by the military courts, and the cycle will begin anew.