An İstanbul court on Wednesday sentenced a celebrity talent manager to 12-and-a-half years in prison for aiding an alleged attempt to overthrow the Turkish government during the 2013 Gezi Park protests, Turkish Minute reported, citing the Agence France-Presse.
Manager Ayşe Barım, 55, is not currently in jail. The court did not order her arrest after the verdict, keeping a travel ban in place and citing her health and continuing treatment.
The İstanbul 26th High Criminal Court said it first imposed an aggravated life sentence for attempting to overthrow the government, then reduced it to 15 years on the grounds that Barım’s role amounted to “aiding,” and applied a further reduction to 12 years, 6 months, state media reported.
Barım denied the charges and asked for acquittal. “Witness statements are in my favor [and] there is no concrete evidence,” Turkish media quoted her as saying in court, adding that she wanted to undergo further surgeries.
Barım’s lawyer, Deniz Ketenci, argued there was no direct or indirect evidence linking her to the alleged crime and said the case was launched on the basis of claims by an informant.
Another defense lawyer, Sedat Özyurt, said prosecutors had not shown the required element of force or violence and argued that artists attended the protests on their own initiative.
Prosecutors alleged Barım used well-known actors and artists she represented to help organize and amplify the protests on social media and on the ground. A trial prosecutor had sought aggravated life in an opinion filed ahead of the final hearing.
The Gezi protests began in late May 2013 after a small sit-in opposing the redevelopment of Gezi Park, one of central İstanbul’s few green spaces. Police attempts to clear the park helped spark nationwide demonstrations that expanded into broader anger over the government’s handling of dissent, policing and civil liberties.
Barım’s case has proceeded in parallel with long-running Gezi prosecutions that include philanthropist Osman Kavala, who is serving an aggravated life sentence in a case tied to the protests. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2019 that Kavala’s detention pursued an ulterior purpose and ordered his release, while the Council of Europe launched infringement proceedings over Turkey’s failure to implement the ruling.
