Diken Akbaba was an administrator in the Peace and Democracy Party (Barış ve Demokrasi Partisi - BDP) Maltepe District Branch in 2011 and was arrested on January 17, 2012 as part of the KCK operations along with a group. Akbaba was tried at the Istanbul 16th Special Authority High Criminal Court (court later closed) and was sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in prison on charges of "membership to a terrorist organization". Akbaba was released during the trial, but has been arrested again and transferred to Bakırköy Prison along with her 7 month old son Miraz Aram on February 19 when the Supreme Court approved her sentence.

Gülistan Akbaba’s lawyer Hatice Korkut said Gülistan Akbaba and her 7 month old son Miraz Aram were among many people affected by the decrees of a closed court and an arrested judge.

“DECREES BY FETÖ JUDGE STILL CONSIDERED VALID”

Korkut said her client was put on trial for political party activity in the now-closed BDP in Maltepe, Istanbul, and that the Istanbul 16th Special Authority High Criminal Court was known for the most dubious trials in Turkey like KCK trials, the match-fixing probe and Odatv case, and continued: “This court has been on the public view with the unjust and non-neutral decrees issued in these trials. The judge who chaired the committee to issue these verdicts, Judge Mehmet Ekinci, was arrested on January 28 while he was a fugitive due to the FETÖ/Parallel State investigation. All decrees issued by this court, that continued this unjust and non-neutral stance in dozens of cases that weren’t as popular, are still valid.”

"THEY WANT TO KEEP GÜLİSTAN AND HER BABY IN PRISON FOR 2 YEARS AND 10 MONTHS"

Lawyer Hatice Korkut stated that her client was the only woman suspect in this trial while the other female suspects in a similar situation received less sentences or were not jailed due to the postponement of their sentences. She recalled that Gülistan was released on January 17, 2012 after nearly 1,5 years in prison, and got arrested once again upon the approval of the prison sentence. She added that Gülistan will now have to stay in prison together with her son for 2 years and 10 months for conditional release.

‘GÜLİSTAN WAS ARRESTED UNJUSTLY"

Lawyer Korkut remarked that Gülistan was jailed for several "criminal evidences" such as her phone talks with her family and friends, letters from her friends in prison, and excerpts from the diaries she wrote when aged 13-14.

Korkut stated that they will use their right to individual application to the Constitutional Court of Turkey with the demand of re-trial due to the violation of her right to fair trial.