Academic Nuriye Gülmen and teacher Semih Özakça are two of the tens of thousands of people who were expelled with a Statutory Decree following last year’s coup attempt. Gülmen and Özakça were holding a daily vigil demonstration on the Yüksel Street in the heart of Turkish capital Ankara against their expulsion with a Statutory Decree, and later started a hunger strike to get their jobs back in March. Both educators were jailed in late May, since when they continue with their hunger strike in prison. Their hunger strike still continues on day 268.

Teacher Acun Karadağ, who was similarly dismissed with a Statutory Decree, also started a protest in front of the school where she had been working for 10 years. She was continuously subjected to police crackdown and fell ill during one of the attacks by the police forces. Karadağ then underwent a heart surgery and had a cardiac pacemaker. After one month of fight for her life, the teacher then started to join the demonstration for Nuriye and Semih in Ankara’s central Yüksel Street. Most recently, she was sentenced to house arrest.

The sixth hearing in the case against three dismissed educators continued in an Ankara court on Friday. Semih Özakça and Acun Karadağ attended the hearing personally while Nuriye Gülmen, who is held in hospital for a while, attended through video conferencing system.

Announcing the verdict in the case, the court sentenced Nuriye Gülmen to 6 years and 3 months in prison for “membership to an illegal organization” while also ruling for her release, whereas Semih Özakça and Acun Karadağ were acquitted.