Sabri Iskender

Sabri Iskender (also Sabri Iskenderow , Bulgarian Сабри Искендер , or Сабри Искандеров; born September 8, 1947 in Schalt Brjag , near Sliven , Bulgaria ) is a Bulgarian human rights activist of Turkish descent, dissident against the communist leadership of the country. Iskender was next to Mustafa Yümer and Ali Ormanlî the founder of the Democratic League for the Protection of Human Rights (Bulgarian Демократичната лига за защита правата на човека) and its first secretary.

Life

Sabri Iskender was born on September 8, 1947 in the village of Schalt Brjag in the Balkan Mountains , which belongs to the municipality of Twarditsa . He became a half-orphan at the age of two when his father died in an accident at work. Iskender attended primary school in the nearby village of Byala Palanka , to which he walked every school day. After primary school, he attended the woodworking school in Twardiza and the technical building in Sliven. After graduating from high school, Sabri Iskender worked in SOAT and in the road construction department in Varna on the Black Sea .

He was arrested on January 17, 1985, the day before the so-called "name change campaign" began in his home region. The "name change campaign" was part of Bulgarisierungskampagne the communist state against the Muslim and Turkish population of the country, began what the early 1970s and lasted until the late 1980s. These were measures to implement a policy of assimilation, including the forced change of Islamic first and last names to Bulgarian-Slavic names, restrictions on the use of the non-Bulgarian mother tongue among these ethnic groups, the forced restriction of their traditional customs and rites and the disability practicing their religion. Sabri Iskender was transferred to Sliven, where he was physically abused on a daily basis while in custody. During this time he got to know Hüsein Huk . On May 8 of the same year, he was transferred to the notorious Belene Forced Labor Camp without charge or judgment . He stayed there until May 6, 1986. He was then forcibly relocated to the western Bulgarian village of Kamenopole near Wraza .

In October 1986, Sabri Iskender and his 16-year-old son were arrested while trying to illegally cross the Bulgarian-Yugoslav border at Kom . The aim of the conversion was to participate in the conference on human rights ( 3rd CSCE follow-up conference), which began in Vienna on November 4th, in order to inform the international community about the living conditions of the Turkish minorities in Bulgaria and about the assimilation policy of the Bulgarian state and the grievances to publish. Iskender was taken to Sofia and sentenced to two years for illegally crossing the border. His son was released.

Sabri spent two years in prison, first in the central prison in Sofia, and later in the prison for political prisoners in Stara Sagora , where he met Ahmed Dogan. He was released early on April 30, 1988 for good conduct. After his release, he was again forcibly resettled to the western Bulgarian village of Kameno pole. There he founded the Democratic League for the Protection of Human Rights on November 13, together with Mustafa Yümer and Ali Ormanlî, which campaigned for all people and groups persecuted by the communist regime. They liaised with other human rights groups and supported one another. So they stood up for the prisoners Ilija Minew , the chairman of the Independent Society for the Protection of Human Rights and its secretary Petar Manolow .

Sabri Iskender was arrested on May 16, 1989 and deported to Turkey through the Kapitan Andreewo border crossing the next morning . Iskender now lives and works in the Turkish capital Ankara .

In November 2010, Sabri Iskender and other dissidents were received by the Chairman of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bulgarian dissidents were received in Brussels ( Bulgar .)

Web links

• Short biography and interview (Bulgarian) of Sabri Iskender, also available on www.mediapool.bg and liternet.bg, accessed on June 13, 2011
• Audio interview (Bulgarian) with Sabri Iskender on Bulgarian National Radio on November 11, 2009, accessed June 13, 2011
• Interviews (Bulgarian) by Sabri Iskender with the journalist from Radio Free Europe Rumjana Uzunova , accessed on June 13, 2011
• The Democratic League for the Protection of Human Rights and its program (Bulgarian) in the portal www.omda.bg, accessed on June 13, 2011
• The True Face of Resistance (Bulgarian), accessed June 13, 2011