The wall heard, the stones heard – not you

Alican Uludağ

Academic Nuriye Gülmen, who has been on hunger strike for 254 days in a bid to return to her job from which she was dismissed under a decree with the force of law, was connected to the court by video link from the convict cell at Numune Hospital where she is being held. Gülmen, describing a “hunger for justice” as being the reason they started their action in Yüksel Street on 9 November 2016, said, “The stones heard, the concrete heard, the asphalt we were pressed onto heard, but those in power did not hear our demand.” The prosecutor, in turn, giving his opinion on the merits, sought the punishing of Semih Özakça for “aiding an organisation” and Nuriye Gülmen, conversely, for “membership of an organisation” citing as grounds the testimony of two “informant” witnesses who have emerged since the proceedings commenced. The court ordered the extension of Nuriye Gülmen’s detention on the grounds that there were “strong suspicion of guilt.”

Greetings Cumhuriyet people,

The trial of Nuriye Gülmen and Semih Özakça, who have been on hunger strike for 254 days in a bid to return to their jobs, along with Yüksel Street resister Acun Karadağ continued in the courthouse within Sincan Prison Complex. Semih Özakça, who was released into house arrest at the last session and has been placed under house arrest, entered the courtroom to applause in a wheelchair. Certain CHP and HDP parliamentarians, Veli Saçılık and singer Pınar Aydınlar also observed the hearing. Gülmen’s mother and father took their seats in the courtroom, too, and listened to their daughter’s address on the video screen. Gülmen started her address by thanking one by one all those who had supported her. Gülmen, greeting one by one the Yüksel Street resisters, the mothers of the Gezi fallen and the detained lawyers, also mentioned the detained journalists, saying, “Ahmet Şık, Murat Sabuncu and the Cumhuriyet staffers are being unjustly held in jail. We are resisting for them, too, and will continue to resist. I share my feelings of solidarity.”

I want to come to the courtroom

Gülmen, describing the way she had wished since the outset of this trial to appear before the bench and make a defence in front of the spectators, said, “I do not wish to make a defence here in front of a camera as if I were speaking to myself. If you do not take me to the court, you are committing a crime. Those who are capable of blockading Kızılay Square and who are capable of arresting dozens of people could have provided security for this hearing. Our not being brought here was purely arbitrary. My right to defence has been usurped.”

Inhuman conditions

Gülmen, criticising the conditions under which she was being held in hospital, said, “I am being kept in inhuman conditions. The light is on night and day. In this way, we are subjected to torture every day. With a normal person even unable to sleep with the light on, on hunger strike sleep is the most important thing for me. But, how can I sleep in this way.” Gülmen, indicating that she would explain today why she had started her hunger strike, commented, “But, this is absolutely not a defence.” Gülmen, noting that she had fought to seek her rights in every period, stated the following:

It started with a hunger for justice

“The thing that drove me into that action in Yüksel Street on 9 November 2016 was that Nuriye Gülmen’s personal history was replete with such a hunger for justice. Given the dozens of points on which I was vindicated, my refusal to bow down and my capacity to defend myself, I wanted to see myself there. The AKP rulership bears the greatest responsibility for this organisation assuming this state and attempting a coup. It cannot sack me for this. I am holding them to account for this. I am calling to account in the face of this fascism. The AKP rulership was afraid of this righteousness. We invoked this righteousness and summoned everyone to Yüksel Street. Were we not vindicated to this extent, would we be capable of melting away our bodies? But, what did they do? They proclaimed us to be organisation members and declared war against us.”

I went into the street as the last resort

Gülmen, saying that she filed numerous lawsuits after being expelled under a decree with the force of law and made submissions to numerous bodies, said, “I was waiting in the expectation of being restored to my post. But it was not to be. I went into the street as the last resort. We are there because we are in the right. We exhausted all means. We want our jobs back.” Gülmen, saying that the Yüksel Street resistance and hunger strike had led to the calling into question and ending of the legitimacy of the AKP’s decrees with the force of law, said, “In the past people were unjustly sacked and this was not spoken of aloud.” As to the reason for the sit-down protest turning into a hunger strike, Gülmen said “The stones heard, the concrete heard, the asphalt we were pressed onto heard, but those in power did not hear our demand. In response, Semih and I decided to go on hunger strike.”

It is ignorance to attribute it to an organisation

Gülmen, stressing that she had been accused of organisation membership from this stage onward, commented, “Do not attribute a hunger strike decision to an organisation. It makes no sense to say this organisation is on hunger strike and they are on hunger strike, so they are also organisation members. It is ignorance to attribute the hunger strike to this organisation. Hunger striking is a very long-standing tradition. It was the conditions that pushed us into hunger strike. It was forced on us. It was the non-meeting of our demand.”

Prosecutor seeks punishment

The hearing prosecutor gave his opinion on the merits stating that all the evidence had been gathered and alleged that the hunger strike had been at the organisation’s command, and sought the punishment of Özakça for “knowingly and willingly aiding an organisation while not being part of the hierarchic structure of a terrorist organisation” and of Gülmen, conversely, for “membership of a terrorist organisation.” The prosecutor, in seeking punishment, adduced merely the testimony of two informant witnesses by way of evidence as opposed to concrete evidence. As to the defendant on release pending trial, Acun Karadağ, he sought his acquittal. Addressing the court, Karadağ said, “All three of us deserve to be acquitted.” Karadağ, opining that the prosecutor was seeking punishment to bring the Yüksel Street resistance to an end, said addressing Gülmen, “You are the woman for whom I feel the greatest respect in the world. I bow in respect before you. Your being punished in this trial will not bring the Yüksel Street resistance to an end.”

Özakça: Give us our jobs

For her part, Nuriye Gülmen, stating that her address today was not of the nature of a defence, said, “Perceive this to be a request for release. I want to come to court and make a defence. So, release me. The witnesses’ testimony is the base talk of informants. I want to reply to them in court.” Semih Özakça, in turn, said in response to the call for punishment by the prosecutor, “I was not on hunger strike. I was saying I wanted my job. Nobody made their voice heard. Where was this political rulership? Then I started the hunger strike. You, too, know that we would have stopped our hunger strike on returning to our jobs.” Murat Yılmaz, Attorney-at-Law, noting that the witnesses Berk Ercan and Fatih Solak’s testimonies were mutually contradictory and were given under police prompting after the proceedings had commenced, stated that credibility could not be attached to the witnesses. Yılmaz, saying they objected to the decision denying Gülmen’s application for release at the previous hearing, pointed to the state the judiciary had fallen into by pointing out that it was denied under a decision that was a cut-copy-paste of that ordering the extension of Fatih Mehmet Kılıç’s detention of Serious Crime Court No 20 that had adjudicated on this.

Quest for justice under a broken system

The presiding judge noted that Nuriye Gülmen could not be brought in on health grounds and for this reason her defence by video link would be admitted. Gülmen was connected to the hearing at 11 o’ clock by video link from the convict cell at Ankara Numune Hospital where she is being held. Gülmen, appearing before the camera lying in bed, appeared to have become very thin. As Gülmen greeted the courtroom with the victory sign, the spectators greeted her with applause. As the video link was in operation, with the quality of the video footage seeming to be very bad, Gülmen was obliged to repeat what she had said due to frequent interruptions to the sound. With Gülmen unable to recall certain words under the effects of the hunger strike, the lawyers at her side rushed to her assistance.

Intervention against protest

Five people held a sit-down protest in front of Sincan Penal Institution with the slogan, “Nuriye Gülmen is our honour.” Police teams sprayed water in the cold weather from riot control vehicles and staged a harsh intervention with tear gas and plastic bullets.