March 22, 2006 Mehmet Ali Aslan, a math teacher in Dersim (a city in central Turkey with a large Kurdish population) was apprehended while teaching a class, taken away for a search of his house. He was arrested on grounds of being a member of the organizing committee of the March 8 Women’s Day Celebrations. […]
March 22, 2006
Mehmet Ali Aslan, a math teacher in Dersim (a city in central Turkey with a large Kurdish population) was apprehended while teaching a class, taken away for a search of his house. He was arrested on grounds of being a member of the organizing committee of the March 8 Women’s Day Celebrations.
The seven-member organizing committee had prepared a music, poetry and film
festival for the celebration.
5 days later the police were ordered to search the homes of each member serving on the committee. The police acted on a tip and charged him with “propagandizing terror” and “exalting crime and criminals”.
Aslan, who is a representative of Eğitim-Sen (Teachers’ Union), was teaching a class in the regional boarding school for elementary education when police interrupted the class, forcibly took him away although they were asked to wait until the class ended.
EK