It was the 9th of July, 1998. An explosion happened in the historical Spice Bazaar of Istanbul and many people died.
The police’s expert teams which came to the crime scene prepared three separate reports on the explosion, each report being presented a day after the previous one. The result: “The explosion is most certainly NOT due to a bomb.” And, the event was reported on all newspapers and television channels as being due to a gas leakage.
A couple of days later, the sociologist Pınar Selek, who was researching the Kurdish issue and the war it has resulted in, and who had conducted oral history interviews with many people, was taken under custody by the police. This happened immediately after she walked out of the door of the art atelier she had established in Istanbul, together with street children. Not only did the police confiscate her research, but they also tortured Selek in order to make her give the names of the people she had interviewed. When she did not give up any name whatsoever, Selek was arrested and charged with aiding and abetting “an illegal organization.”
A month later, Pınar Selek was depicted as the perpetrator of the explosion in the Spice Bazaar. Selek found out about this accusation from the news on the TV, which she watched while in prison. Yet, not one question was posed to Pınar about the explosion in the Spice Bazaar, either by the police or during her court hearing. The charges were based on the statement made by Abdülmecit Öztürk to the police, in which he had said that they “had placed the bomb together.”
Then, Pınar Selek was also included into the court case opened in the Istanbul Court of Aggravated Felony number 12, about the explosion in the Spice Bazaar. On the official written accusation Pınar Selek was charged with “placing a bomb in the Spice Bazaar with Abdülmecit Öztürk, upon the directive of the (PKK) and being a member of the afore-mentioned organization.”
As the court case proceeded, every allegation that was made against Pınar was disproven by the defense, one by one. The other defendant Abdülmecit Öztürk, who was shown as the grounds for the accusation against Pınar Selek, emphasized, from the very first day he was brought to court, that he had given that statement under pressure and torture. In the meantime, the expert report formed upon the demand of the court explained that the explosion had most certainly not been caused by a bomb.
Pınar Selek was released after 2 and half years.
However, the case continued. It was revealed that the Minister for Justice and Ministry of Interior Affairs had, in opposition of Pınar Selek, repeatedly asked for the case file, even though they were not parties in this case. An expert report was requested again and again, due to various objections, in an extremely unlawful manner. Despite all the pressure upon them, 6 of the expert reports coming from universities stated that the explosion was not caused by a bomb. The expert report given upon request of the Ministry for Interior Affairs, however, alleged that the reason for the explosion may have been a bomb.
Throughout this process, as part of the public campaign about Pınar being innocent, hundreds of intellectuals and human rights activists, including those like Yaşar Kemal, Orhan Pamuk, Oya Baydar, Vedat Türkali and Prof. Baskın Oran, attended the court hearings in order to support Pınar Selek.
When it was understood after the court hearings which lasted until 2008, in which Selek was held on trial without arrest, that all the allegations that the explosion was caused by a bomb were invalid, Pınar Selek was acquitted on 23.05.2008.
However, the Prosecutor who filed the lawsuit went for an appeal against the Istanbul Court of Aggravated Felony number 12’s decision of acquittal, before the Criminal Office No. 9 of Supreme Court. The Criminal Office No. 9 of Supreme Court which examined the file reversed the judgment on procedure. The court, however, insisted upon its decision. On 10th of March 2009, the Criminal Office No. 9 of Supreme Court decided upon the reversal of the acquittal on merits for the second time and demanded Pınar Selek to be judged with a claim of 36 years of heavy imprisonment. What was shown as grounds for this claim was the accusation made by Abdülmecit Öztürk, which he himself had denied in court. The very same court approved the decision of the acquittal of Abdülmecit Öztürk, who was the only reason Pınar was being accused with this crime and who had stated that they had “committed this act together.” The court also did not take the 6 expert reports which said that the “explosion had not been caused by a bomb” into account.
As this was happening, the Head prosecutor of the Supreme Court stated that the reasons the Criminal Office No. 9 of Supreme Court had presented for reversing the judgment were not adequate and that the decision made by the local court had been valid. Therefore, on 16th of September 2009 the Head prosecutor presented his objection to the Supreme Court Criminal General Assembly. The Head prosecutor clearly expressed that Selek could not be accused solely on grounds of the allegations made by Abdülmecit Öztürk, without this being supported by any other evidence whatsoever. Upon this, the case was sent to the Supreme Court Criminal General Assembly. On 09th of February 2010 the Criminal General Assembly rejected the Head prosecutor’s objection and sent the case back to the Istanbul Court of Aggravated Felony number 12 which had given the decision of acquittal.
In this situation, two possibilities remain:
- The Istanbul Court of Aggravated Felony number 12 can conform to the decision of the Supreme Court Criminal General Assembly and try Pınar once again. In this case, the prosecutor will ask for a penal life imprisonment for Pınar.
- The Istanbul Court of Aggravated Felony number 12 can insist upon its decision of acquittal. In this case, the trial will be held, with court hearings, before the Supreme Court Criminal General Assembly.
Why Pınar Selek?
The anti-militarist, feminist, sociologist and peace activist Pınar Selek is one of the very limited amount of intellectuals who has a close relationship with groups which have been otherized by the system. Pınar Selek - who rejects any kind of violence and otherization whatsoever - has been struggling for the solution of the Kurdish issue and all other problems with peaceful methods, and not through violence, for a very, very long time. Selek is not only a peace activist, but also an important figure within feminist politics.
The Amargi Women’s Solidarity Cooperative, in whose foundation Pınar Selek had been in the forefront, is one of the primary non-governmental organisations which occupies itself with other societal issues and searches for solutions in these areas as well as developing feminist politics. While the publishing house founded within the body of the cooperative keeps producing publications for women; Pınar Selek also works as the editor of the Amargi Feminist Journal, a publication which is taken into consideration by the public in the development of feminist politics and is commonly referred to. Pınar Selek holds a very important place, not only with all the practical work she does, but also with all the research she conducts and books she has written...
Her Works:
Ya Basta (Translation -1996)
Maskeler, Süvariler, Gacılar (2001)
Barışamadık (2004)
Su Damlası (Children’s tale- 2008)
Sürüne Sürüne Erkek Olmak (2008- German translation will soon be published)
Siyah Pelerinli Kız (Children’s tale)
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