After author Aslı Erdoğan, Necmiye Albay began to give her testimony during the Özgür Gündem case where she is prosecuted for ‘being membership to a terrorist organization.’

In her written defense, Albay said the following:

“I have been jailed for 4 months. This is an extrajudicial execution. Why? I would like to explain. The text has 3 parts. Newspaper, armed organization, defendants. However, I could not see the connection between the 3 parts of the text. I was offered the advisory board membership within the framework of the freedom of publishing of the newspaper. Like Voltaire says ‘I do not agree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.' My solidarity with Gündem was based on this idea. When Yaşar Kemal was sued for the first time, a thousand people said ‘we commit the same crime. This is why people show solidarity in these lands. I did not use authority, nor governed, or was governed. I have been jailed for 4 months; this is not easy. My life was split into two. I was not captured.”

When the presiding judge said “You turned yourself in,” Alpay said “I did not turn myself in, I gave my statement.” Alpay said that there was nothing concrete in the indictment, which was written with prejudice, and the prosecutor had made a decision already and described the newspaper as the ‘publication of the armed organization.’ Alpay emphasized that the language of saying ‘books and newspapers were captured’ is reminiscent of the September 12, and should be abandoned.”