Court rules that factory workers' demonstration within freedom of expression

Hacı Bişkin/ DUVAR

Six workers who protested in front of the Oyak Renault auto factory in the city of Bursa in support of their fired colleagues and were subsequently convicted with various crimes have had the convictions overturned by a Bursa court, based on the grounds that the workers' protest was protected by the right of freedom of expression. 

Ali Aldemir, Ayhan Özgür, Birol Serbest, and Uğur Karasu were given five month prison sentences, whie Dilek Gültekin and Yıldırım Doğan were sentenced to three months and four years. The charges were based on the fact the workers blocked a road and resisted police. A higher court opted to overturn the conviction, citing the demonstration as a method of freedom of expression. 

Dilek Gültekin and Yıldırım Doğan were also convicted on the basis that they “provoked workers” due to posts made on their Facebook pages. These convictions were also overturned on the basis that the posts were within the boundaries of freedom of expression. 

According to Doğan, the court's decision is one that “aims to teach a lesson in an atmosphere where democratic assembly and freedom expression have been trampled upon.”

In 2015, Renault workers protested against one union and joined another. When most of the factories had joined the latter union by 2016, the pressure against the workers by company increased. In March of 2016, 10 workers were fired. In protest of this, a number of Renault workers assembled in front of the factory and also halted production. Police did not grant them permission, and ultimately dragged the workers toward the road, resulting in the blocking of traffic. Police then deployed pepper spray against the workers and beat them with clubs, taking many of them into custody.