Turkish court frees wife who murdered abusive husband

Cilem Karabulut, 24, was found guilty earlier this month of killing her husband Hasan Karabulut, 33, in the southern Adana region in 2015 with a pistol stored at home. She was sentenced to 15 years in jail.

Women’s activists had called for the release of Karabulut, saying she had been systematically abused by her husband and pressured to work as a prostitute in a case typical of the plight suffered by many women in Turkey.

An appeals court Monday agreed with a petition filed by the defence for her release, setting a bail of 50,000 lira ($17,250) and placing her under judicial supervision, the Hurriyet daily said.

“We will continue our struggle. We will fight for all our women,” Karabulut, who has a two-and-a-half year daughter, said after her release from prison where she had spent the last year.

The case sparked huge media attention in Turkey, in particular because of her defiant demeanour which extended to wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan in English: “Dear Past, thanks for all the lessons. Dear Future, I am ready.”

The incident became an iconic case for many feminists in Turkey at a time of intensifying anger over the extent of violence against women, with hundreds of women killed, often by their husbands, every year.

According to the non-governmental Platform to Stop Violence Against Women, 291 women were murdered in Turkey in 2015 and 113 so far this year.