Deniz Tekin
A publishing house employee in Turkey has been acquitted of “terrorist propaganda” charges after being prosecuted for selling a Turkish edition of Nelson Mandela’s autobiography Long Walk to Freedom at a book fair in the southeastern city of Diyarbakır.
Sevinç Aldar, a staff member of the pro-Kurdish Aram Publishing House, had been detained on Dec. 3, 2024, during the 8th Diyarbakır Book Fair, held from Nov. 30 to Dec. 8. Police searched the Aram Publishing booth and confiscated copies of Long Walk to Freedom and another title, The Letters and Writings of Mehmet Hayri Durmuş. Authorities cited an order to seize the books as the reason for the raid. Aldar was released after giving a statement but was later charged with making “propaganda for a terrorist organization.”
The trial opened at the Diyarbakır 4th High Criminal Court, where Aldar and her lawyer, Resul Tamur, appeared in court. After the indictment summary was read, Aldar gave her defense statement, saying she had started working at the booth after applying for a job at the fair and was unaware that the books had been banned.
The prosecutor had requested a conviction. However, defense attorney Tamur argued that his client bore no criminal responsibility, pointing out that the official ban on the books was not issued until Dec. 12 — nine days after the seizure — and that the publishing house was formally notified eight days later. He emphasized that Aldar could not have known about the ban at the time of the alleged offense.
Asked for a final statement, Aldar requested her acquittal. The court ruled that the legal elements of the crime were not present and acquitted her.
The book Long Walk to Freedom is the globally renowned autobiography of Nelson Mandela, the late anti-apartheid leader and former president of South Africa. Its seizure in Turkey has drawn criticism, especially from press freedom and human rights advocates concerned about growing censorship in the country.
