Five students at Dersim University were sentenced to 79 years in prison for allegedly “being member of an organization” and “spreading propaganda” for it.

Students Ejder Doðan, Þükrü Yurtsever, Gökhan Gümüþ, Mehmet Tiryaki and Naci Ataman were arrested one year ago following simultaneous police raids in their houses. The judgment trial of the case against students was held at Malatya 3rd High Criminal Court.

Despite the defendant lawyers’ objection to the accusations and demand for the release of students, the court board sentenced students to a total of 79 years in prison.

Political students at the majority of universities in Turkey have been remarkably subject to legal processes because of the protest demonstrations they stage, slogans they chant and press releases they make in campus areas.

A recent example of this repression has been lived at Mustafa Kemal University in Hatay where the administration has launched over 150 investigations against Kurdish and revolutionist students in the last four months.

Students were several times subject to police violence during the protest actions they staged last March.