In 1962, Kemal joined the Workers Party of Turkey (TIP) and "served as one of its leaders until quitting after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968". Because of the spate of political assassinations during the 1976–1980 political violence in Turkey, Kemal moved to Sweden for a time. He was often arrested for his political activities. In 1995, he was prosecuted for making separatist propaganda after writing an article for Index on Censorship, because of his support for Kurdish dissidents. He was sentenced to 20 months and received a suspended sentence in March 1996. In December 2000, he was involved in negotiations concerning the hunger strikes against the F-Type prisons.