Sevgi Yakın

*This report is written for European Association of Lawyers for Democracy & World Human Rights (ELDH) during the Freedom House’s Fellowship Program for Emerging Civil Society Leaders in Turkey and as a part of Civic Space Studies Association’s Advancing Fundamental Freedoms in Turkey project.

Introduction 

ExOPG “Je So’ Pazzo” in Naples, Italy used to be a forensic psychiatric hospital (Ospedale Psichiatrico  Giudiziario). In 2015, a group of activists occupied the abandoned building. Although at first, they had  the risk of being arrested, after one year of meetings with the prefecture, the police, and the  municipality, they got the authorization to stay in the building. Currently, it’s a community center  well-equipped thanks to community’s contributions, with a clinic, a theater, a library, an afterschool  care center, a radio center, sports areas, and a gym. The activists hold an immigration legal  assistance, and a chamber of labor help desks one day every week. However, with the changing  political climate both at the local and the national level, they currently face the risk of being thrown  out from the space.