The University of Oslo grants the Human Rights Award to “purge-victim academic, Professor Istar Gozaydin.” Professor Gozaydin spent 4 months in prison after last year’s coup attempt in Turkey. Gozaydin was detained on December 20, 2016 and accused with being part of the Gulen group which was accused as being behind the coup attempt. She was arrested on December 27, 2016.
Gozaydin was formerly head of the sociology department at the Izmir-based Gediz University, which was shut down by a government decree along with thousands of other educational institutions in the aftermath of the failed coup. Gozaydin was released on bail on March 30, 2017 with a scheduled court date of September 17, 2017. That date was postponed and is now rescheduled for January 12, 2018. She is still on a travel ban.