The Kurdish mother Halise Aksoy, whose son’s body was delivered to her in a cargo box, was sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in prison today on the grounds of “membership in an illegal organisation” based on the statements of state witness Ümit Akbıyık.
Aksoy had been arrested on 23 April 2024 based on Akbıyık’s statements, and later released on bail. The 7th hearing of her case was held at the Diyarbakır (Amed) High Court with lawyers Zeynep Karayılan and Necat Çiçek representing Aksoy who was absent herself.
Halise Aksoy first publicly criticised the Turkish state after receiving the remains of her son Agit Ipek in a cargo box, tagged with a yellow Post Office label, almost three years after her son had been killed in a clash with Turkish armed forces in Tunceli (Dersim) on 23 May 2017. Images of mother Halise Aksoy, sitting in her living room with the cargo box on her lap, has been carved into the memories of many, and it triggered a massive public outcry.
In an interview with Mezopotamya Ajansi in December 2020, Aksoy had also talked about the impact of the fact that the couldn’t bury her son according to her faith:
“The box I took was the one he was buried in. I could not look at my son’s remains for the last time. I did not see them. They prevented me from burying him properly. They did not let the imam come. I had to bury my son with that dirty bag. I can’t sleep now. I have these nightmares every night.”
