Kobanî trial: Court refers case to appeals court before appeal deadline

Drawing: Ercan Altuntaş

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

In the Kobanî trial, the court has ignored the defendants' petitions demanding recusal and has sent the appeals to the upper court.

Some 108 members of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), including former MPs and co-chairs, are facing an aggravated life sentence for allegedly organizing the 2014 Kobanî protests, during which more than 40 people were killed in Kurdish-majority regions.

Twenty-eight of the 108 people are currently remanded in custody, six have judicial control measures and 75 have arrest warrants against them.

The first hearing of the case was held at the Ankara 22nd Heavy Penal Court on April 26. In the hearing, defending attorneys' request for the recusal of the judge was rejected by the court.

CLICK - Kobanî trial: Request for recusal rejected

In addition to the attorneys, the HDP's imprisoned former co-leaders Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ and Democratic Regions Party (DBP) former Co-Chair Sebabat Tuncel had also requested recusal. In its interim verdict, the court had rejected the request of attorneys on the grounds that it was "intended to prolong the hearing" while it had given time for Demirtaş, Yüksel and Tuncel to submit their requests.

The court had ruled that the defendants could appeal its decision at the Ankara 23rd Heavy Penal Court (the court of appeal).

Referral to the appeals court

According to the Law on Criminal Procedure, the period of appeal is seven days. The attorneys appealed the decision yesterday (May 3), the last day of the appeal period.

However, it was understood that the court had sent the case file to the appeals court on April 29, without receiving the petitions of appeal, Mesopotamia Agency (MA) reported.

The names of many attorneys who requested a recusal during the hearing and the names of the attorneys of Tuncel and Yüksekdağ aren't included in the "appeal against the rejection of the request of the recusal of the judge" document, according to the MA report.

CLICK - 'It was like the inquisition': Attorneys reflect on Kobanî trial

Attorneys of Demirtaş, Yüksekdağ and Tuncel today submitted petitions demanding the recusal of the judge to the 22nd Heavy Penal Court to be sent to the 23rh Heavy Penal Court.

Yüksekdağ's attorneys stated in the petition that the rejection of the request of recusal showed that "the court board acts intending to complete the trial with procedures that are incomplete, erroneous and are clearly against procedures and the law" and it was understood that it could not try the defendants "impartially, independently, fairly and honestly."

Demirtaş's attorneys requested the reversal of the court's decision to refer the case to the 23rd Heavy Penal Court before the appeal deadline and the reversal of the decision to reject the request of recusal on April 26.

Tuncel's attorneys stated that the court acted without complying with principles such as impartiality, honesty, professionalism, equality, competence and diligence and did not allow the right to defense to be exercised without providing a concrete and understandable legal or material reason.

From the Kobanî indictment

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office prepared an indictment regarding the Kobanî protests that took place on October 6-8, 2014.

108 people, including the arrested former Co-Chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtaş, were among the "suspects".

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), the indictment demanded the penalization of all suspects on charges of "disrupting the unity and territorial integrity of the state", "killing for 37 times, "attempted killing for 31 times", "burning the flag" and "violating the Law on Protecting Atatürk."

Prepared by the Terror Crimes Investigation Bureau of the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, the indictment was sent to the Ankara 22nd Heavy Penal Court. The court accepted the indictment on January 7, 2021.

About the Kobanî protests

In September 2014, ISIS, which controlled a large territory in Syria at the time, launched an offensive to Kobanî, a Kurdish town in northern Syria, near the country's border with Turkey.

In late September, a group of people went to Suruç, a town neighboring Kobanî in the predominantly Kurdish city of Urfa, and attempted to cross the border. Police prevented them, using tear gas and rubber bullets.

Pictures allegedly showing ISIS militia crossing into Syria were published on the same days.

Also, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made statements indicating that they equated the PKK with ISIS. While the wounded coming from Kobanî were kept waiting on the border, the wounded from ISIS were treated at hospitals. Several news reports were reported in the press, saying "Kobanî fell." These news reports were denied every time.

After the HDP made a call to take to the streets against a possible massacre in Kobanî, thousands of people protested in Kurdish-majority provinces as well as Ankara and İstanbul. While left parties also supported these protests, deaths also occurred with the onset of police violence. Street conflicts ensued. 42 people lost their lives from October 6 to 12, 2014.

According to a report by the Human Rights Association (İHD), 46 people died, 682 people were wounded and 323 people were arrested in the protests held between September 7 and 12, 2014. As reported by the AA, 31 people lost their lives, 221 citizens and 139 police officers were wounded.

Here are the names of all defendants: Figen Yüksekdağ, Sebahat Tuncel, Selahattin Demirtaş, Selma Irmak, Sırrı Süreyya Önder, Gülfer Akkaya, Gülser Yıldırım, Gültan Kışanak, Ahmet Türk, Ali Ürküt, Alp Altınörs, Altan Tan, Ayhan Bilgen, Nazmi Gür, Ayla Akat Ata, Aysel Tuğluk, İbrahim Binici, Ayşe Yağcı, Nezir Çakan, Pervin Oduncu, Meryem Adıbelli, Mesut Bağcık, Bircan Yorulmaz, Bülent Barmaksız, Can Memiş, Cihan Erdal, Berfin Özgü Köse, Günay Kubilay, Dilek Yağlı, Emine Ayna, Emine Beyza Üstün, Mehmet Hatip Dicle, Ertuğrul Kürkçü, Yurdusev Özsökmenler, Arife Köse, Ayfer Kordu, Aynur Aşan, Ayşe Tonğuç, Azime Yılmaz, Bayram Yılmaz, Bergüzar Dumlu, Cemil Bayık, Ceylan Bağrıyanık, Cihan Ekin, Demir Çelik, Duran Kalkan, Elif Yıldırım, Emine Tekas, Emine Temel, Emrullah Cin, Engin Karaaslan, Enver Güngör, Ercan Arslan, Fatma Şenpınar, Fehman Hüseyin, Ferhat Aksu, Filis Arslan, Filiz Duman, Gönül Tepe, Gülseren Törün, Gülten Alataş, Gülüşan Eksen, Gülüzar Tural, Güzel İmecik, Hacire Ateş, Hatice Altınışık, Hülya Oran, İsmail Özden, İsmail Şengül, Kamuran Yüksek, Layika Gültekin, Leyla Söğüt Aydeniz, Mahmut Dora, Mazhar Öztürk, Mazlum Tekdağ, Abdulselam Demirkıran, Mehmet Taş, Mehmet Tören, Menafi Bayazit, Mızgın Arı, Murat Karayılan, Mustafa Karasu, Muzaffer Ayata, Nazlı Taşpınar, Neşe Baltaş, Nihal Ay, Nuriye Kesbir, Remzi Kartal, Rıza Altun, Ruken Karagöz, Sabiha Onar, Sabri Ok, Salih Akdoğan, Salih Müslüm Muhammed, Salman Kurtulan, Sara Aktaş, Sibel Akdeniz, Şenay Oruç, Ünal Ahmet Çelen, Yahya Figan, Yasemin Becerekli, Yusuf Koyuncu, Yüksel Baran, Zeki Çelik, Zeynep Karaman, Zeynep Ölbeci, Zübeyir Aydar.

(AS/VK)