Marxist academician in custody for reading Gülen’s book
CAN UĞUR / canugur@birgun.net
@canugur1987
After being suspended in relation to operations on coup attempt of July 15, academician Candan Badem had said, “I am an atheist and a Marxist. I wonder how they would make a Gülenist out of me.” And today, Badem, a faculty member at Tunceli University Faculty of Arts History Department, has been arrested.
The reason for his arrest is reported to be a book by Fethullah Gülen, found in his possession in his room. Former CHP Tunceli MP and Badem’s lawyer Hüseyin Aygün announced the arrest of Prof. Badem, who is known for his Marxist stand.
Giving updates to BirGün, Aygün explained that the Professor is being charged with a ‘coup attempt’, though there is no evidence.
As Aygün reports, Badem’s office room at his school was searched with an initial order for a ‘search and seizure’. During the search, officials found there a book written by Fethullah Gülen, titled as The hesitations brought up by the century-4, which is asserted to have been written as a response to atheists. Aygün added that this book was regarded as evidence by the prosecutor for taking part in the coup attempt and led to Badem’s arrest.
Emphasizing that the decision of this arrest and the interrogation is lawless, Aygün says reading a book of this sort is part of the duties of an academician, and makes a reminder of a statement of Erdoğan’s from past, where he had said ‘Books are more dangerous than bombs.’ Aygün said: “For the first time in my life, I have witnessed a situation where ‘reading books’ is regarded as a crime of coup attempt.”