Mehmet Tarhan (born 1978) is a Kurdish conscientious objector who was imprisoned for refusing military service.
During his days in prison he was offered and accepted to join Jury of Conscience of World Tribunal on Iraq Tarhan first publicly objected to military service in October 2001.
However, the Turkish military perceives homosexuality as an "illness" and requires rectal examination and visual "evidence" to support such a claim.
[1] Tarhan was arrested in April 2005 and tried the next month on charges of insubordination under Article 88 of the Turkish Military Penal Code.
This release is believed to be political in nature due to international pressure becoming bad publicity, as he has not been acquitted and still considered to be "at large"; he can be recaptured and re-imprisoned at the whim of the authorities.
[5] Turkish author and poet Perihan Magden was prosecuted and acquitted in Turkey for writing a column in support of Tarhan and his call for conscientious objection.