Hatice Duman, Atilim
Medium:Print
Charge:Anti-State
Imprisoned:April 9, 2003

Duman, former owner and news editor of the socialist weekly Atilim (Leap), was serving a life term at Gebze women's closed prison in Kocaeli on charges of being a member of the banned Marxist Leninist Communist Party, or MLKP, producing propaganda, and "attempting to change the constitutional order by force." Other charges against her included seizing weapons and forging an official document in relation to her alleged association with MLKP, according to a list of imprisoned journalists provided by the Turkish Justice Ministry in November 2013 at CPJ's request.

Duman denied all the charges. CPJ believes the charges are baseless and unsubstantiated after viewing the available court documents, including the indictment.

As evidence of the membership and propaganda charges, authorities cited Duman's attendance at MLKP demonstrations and the testimony of confidential witnesses. Duman's lawyer, Keles Öztürk, told CPJ that his client was targeted because Atilim had opposed administration policies.

The weapons and forgery charges were mainly pegged to the testimony of Duman's husband, who later said police had threatened sexual violence against his family if he didn't testify against his wife, according to the independent news portal Bianet.

Duman was convicted on all charges on May 4, 2011, according to local press reports.

In September 2012, the Supreme Court of Appeals upheld the life sentence. Duman's lawyers appealed to Turkey's Constitutional Court, claiming that the evidence used to convict her was gathered illegally and was not properly investigated, that the statement of a fellow defendant used against her was inadmissible, that a request for legal aid to hire her own lawyer had been refused, that the court that convicted her was not impartial, and that the process had lasted longer than was reasonable, according CPJ's review of the court documents.

The Constitutional Court in October 2015 ruled in her favor and sent the case file back to Istanbul's 12th Court for Serious Crimes for a retrial. That retrial was in progress in late 2016.

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