Kurdish author faces up to 22 year prison sentence in Turkey

She is accused of “membership in a terrorist organization” and “making terrorist propaganda.”
Kurdish author Meral Şimşek (Photo: Media and Law Studies Association/Twitter)
Kurdish author Meral Şimşek (Photo: Media and Law Studies Association/Twitter)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdish PEN member, author and poet Meral Şimşek will have the seventh hearing of her trial, where she could face up to 22 years in prison, on Tuesday. 

She is accused of “membership in a terrorist organization” and “making terrorist propaganda.” The court case is being held at the Malatya 2nd High Criminal Court. 

The prosecution demands imprisonment of up to 22 years for Şimşek.

“The indictment presents among other things the poems Şimşek shared on her social media accounts and awards on which congratulations text is inscribed in Kurdish as evidence against Şimşek,” the Turkish non-profit organization the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) said.

MLSA is monitoring the hearing.

In August, PEN International said, “Meral Şimşek is being targeted for her writings” and called “for all charges against her to be dropped.”