Turkish woman returned to prison with newborn 4 days after birth
Date posted: May 28, 2019
Hatice Şahnaz, in pretrial detention on charges of alleged links to the Gülen movement, was put back behind bars in southern Turkey a few days after delivering a baby.
Her four-day-old newborn, Safiye, joined more than 700 children who Turkey is keeping in jail with their mothers.
Relevant laws on the execution of sentences prohibit courts from arresting mothers for six months following birth.
The prison authorities did not allow her to bring in bottles, blankets, a stroller, diapers or clothing for the infant, saying these items could be procured inside.
The young mother was detained in September 2018.
She was arrested over her alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement, which Turkey blames for a failed coup in 2016 and outlaws as a terrorist group.
The group denies any involvement in the coup or terrorism.
A petition campaign for her release was launched on change.org.
Prosecutor’s office launches investigation into Şahin’s claim
Şahin claimed that a high-level judge at the Supreme Court of Appeals had acted contrary to legal procedure and contacted Gülen before issuing his final verdict in the case against the businessman several years ago. “What should I do in this case?” asked the judge, according to the claims of the former justice minister. He went on to say that Gülen had allegedly told the judge to do “what justice requires.”
Daily Sabah rehashes decades-old, refuted claims against Gülen
In what is seen as a smear campaign against Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, the pro-Erdoğan English-language Daily Sabah has rehashed old and refuted claims that Gülen is somehow linked to a 2006 attack on the Turkish Council of State by Alparslan Arslan, a lawyer who carried out the armed assault.
Parallel vs. Persian structure within the Turkish state
Despite all these accusations, the Erdoğan government has not produced any evidence to substantiate his allegations of a parallel structure within the judiciary, police or any other state institution, nor of officials receiving orders from anywhere other than their own legal superiors, nor has he or his government brought any of these charges to court.
Who benefits the most from the AKP-Gülen movement rift?
Over the last 12 years, the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) chief accomplishment has been to establish the supremacy of Turkey’s elected leaders over the military. The Turkish military had ousted four governments since 1960.
President Gül dismisses calls to help tackle political turmoil
During a press conference held on Monday, the GYV, whose honorary chairman is Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, stated that a hate crime is being carried out against the Hizmet movement in Turkey and called on President Gül to take the initiative to investigate the executive branch’s recent attempts to render the judiciary dysfunctional.
Alienating Turkey
Pro-government media outlets publish reports and news stories that are dark propaganda. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and leading party figures make unfounded accusations directed at the Hizmet movement at every opportunity. In Turkey, when people want to hide something and divert attention, they create a virtual agenda and you are asked to follow the distortionist.
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