Eren Keskin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eren Keskin (born April 24, 1959 in Bursa, Turkey) is a Kurdish lawyer and human rights activist in Turkey.[1] She is the vice-president of the Turkish Human Rights Association (İHD) and a former president of its Istanbul branch. She co-founded the project "Legal Aid For Women Who Were Raped Or Otherwise Sexually Abused by National Security Forces”, to expose abuses happening to women in Turkish prisons.[2] She has been arrested, imprisoned, and the object of numerous lawsuits in relation to her human rights activities.
In 1995 she was imprisoned for her activities and was adopted as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.[3] In 2002 she was accused by Turkey's State Security of "aiding and abetting" the PKK because of her advocacy for Kurds to use their native language in Turkey.[4] In March 2006 a Turkish court sentenced her to 10 months’ imprisonment for insulting the country's military. The sentence was then converted to a fine of 6000 New Turkish Liras, which Keskin refused to pay.[5] From 2013 to 2016 Keskin was the editor in chief of the newspaper Özgür Gündem has been sentenced to a total of 7 years and 6 months together.[6] In March 2018 she has been sentenced to 5 years and 3 months imprisonment for insulting the president and another 2 years and 3 months for "degrading Turkishness, the Republic, institutions and organs of the state" according to the Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code.[7]
On 3 December 2021, Evrensel reported Keskin's home was raided by Turkish police.The raid was conducted to summon Keskin to account for a speech she delivered in Turkey’s eastern Tunceli province in 2019.[8]
