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Statement on the Judicial Harassment of Academics in Turkey

Birkbeck School of Law is gravely concerned about the ongoing judicial harassment of signatories of the Academics for Peace petition in Turkey .

We are particularly alarmed at the conviction of our esteemed colleague Dr Noémi Levy-Aksu, a respected legal historian we were privileged to host at the School of Law as a British Academy Newton Fellow for two years. Last month, on 13 June 2019, Dr Levy-Aksu was sentenced to 25 months imprisonment. This conviction follows the imprisonment of two other signatories of the same petition, Prof. Dr. Füsun Üstel and Dr. Tuna Altınel who have been deprived of their right to liberty since May 2019. We condemn this harassment and persecution of academics in the strongest terms, and call for an end to all such procedures against our colleagues.

Professor Stewart Motha, Dean of the School of Law, Birkbeck.

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