Hatice Yıldız, a 75-year-old Kurdish woman, faces imprisonment under ‘financing terrorism’ laws in Turkey for sending money to her daughter in prison. Suffering from multiple health issues, Yıldız was taken from her Istanbul home on a stretcher following her conviction on Friday, sparking widespread discussion about the application of ‘financing terrorism’ laws.
After a three-year legal battle, Yıldız was sentenced to four years and two months in jail, a decision upheld by an appellate court. The conviction has sparked debate over whether it’s right to penalise people for financially supporting their family members in prison.
Yıldız’s son, Alper, has called the sentence unfair, pointing out that sending money to prisoners isn’t clearly illegal. The family is now planning to challenge the decision in the Constitutional Court.
Hatice Yıldız’s imprisonment is part of a wider issue of Kurdish activist mothers being prosecuted under these laws. This situation gained attention after a tragic event last August, when two Peace Mothers, a group of Kurdish women who advocate for peace and prisoner rights, died in a traffic accident returning from a court hearing. They, like others in the group, were accused of ‘financing terrorism’ for providing financial support to their imprisoned children.
