About 4,812 people have joined a petition launched on Change.org for the release of Istanbul-Armenian writer, publicist and dictionary writer Sevan Nishanian from a Turkish prison, reports Hayern Aysor.

As is known, in 2014, a Turkish court sentenced Sevan Nishanian to 11 years in prison under the charge of “illegitimately” launching construction in an area that legally pertained to him, but those fighting against that decision are certain that the sentencing against the Armenian intellectual is linked to his views on Islam, not the ��?illegitimate’ construction. The Istanbul-Armenian intellectual has publicly criticized the Turkish government’s mistakes several times. He has also always spoken out about the Armenian Genocide in Turkey.

By a surprising coincidence, prior to his imprisonment, Sevan Nishanian had predicted that he would be sentenced for illegitimate construction, not for offending the Prophet Muhammad.

Let us add that in 2014, Sevan Nishanian was awarded with the William Saroyan Medal of the RA Ministry of Diaspora.

Click here to join the petition.