Özkan Hoshanli, the former chair of the Malatya branch of the Turkish human rights group Mazlum Der, was imprisoned for fifteen months for attempting to participate in demonstrations in April and May 1999. Özkan Hoshanli had been trying to observe – in his role as a human rights defender – demonstrations in support of female students banned from attending classes at Inönü University in Malatya because they chose to wear a headscarf for religious reasons.
