Last week I was seated next to Sebnem Koru Fincanci at a hearing in the Swedish parliament titled "The State of Human Rights in Turkey." Fincanci delivered a very impressive presentation, using visuals that showed the destruction and devastation and speaking convincingly on human rights violations committed by Turkish security forces in the southeastern Kurdish town of Cizre. She is the author of a recent detailed report on Cizre.

When it was my turn to speak, I began with a tribute to her, saying Fincanci is the most prominent forensic medicine expert in Turkey and an indefatigable human rights activist. I did not conceal my pride in sharing a rostrum with her on the human rights issues. Apart from being a well-known scholar on forensic pathology, she is currently the chairwoman of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey.

After the session she told me that her daughter had married a few days before our encounter in Sweden, and that on her return back to Turkey the first thing she would do is to rush to the city of Adana, where her daughter and son-in-law would be residing.

It did not happen. Fincanci is now in solitary confinement in an Istanbul jail pending trial, possibly facing 14 years in prison.