Kobanî trial: Court releases four defendants
* Photo: HDP
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The "Kobanî trial" continued at the Ankara 22nd Heavy Penal Court in Sincan Prison Courthouse in the capital city today (June 15).
Hearing the statements of defendants and attorneys, the court has ruled that defendants Ayhan Bilgen, Berfin Özgü Köse, Can Memiş and Cihan Erdal shall be released with an international travel ban.
The 3rd hearing will continue tomorrow.
There are 108 defendants from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP); while 28 people have been arrested pending trial, there are judicial control measures on six people and warrants against 75 people.
CLICK - Kobanî trial: Request for recusal rejected
In the trial over the "Kobanî protests of October 6-8, 2014", politicians face life imprisonment aggravated for 38 times.
Details from the second session
As reported by the HDP, the hearing was followed by HDP MPs as well as party executives and party members.
HDP's former Co-Chairs Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahattin Demirtaş, former Diyarbakır Metropolitan Mayor Gültan Kışanak, Democratic Regions Party (DBP) former Co-Chair Emine Ayna, member of the Radio and Television Supreme Council from the HDP Ali Ürküt, member of HDP Foreign Relations Commission Nazmi Gür, dismissed Kars Mayor Ayhan Bilgen, former Mardin MP Gülser Yıldırım and members of the HDP's former Central Executive Board Zeynep Ölbeci, Cihan Erdal, Can Memiş and Meryem Adıbelli attended the second session of the third hearing of the trial from prison.
Former Free Women's Movement (TJA) Spokesperson Ayla Akat Ata, HDP's former Spokesperson Günay Kubilay, former MP Emine Beyza Üstün and İbrahim Binici, HDP Central Executive Board Accountant Zeki Çelik, members of the HDP's former Central Executive Board Pervin Oduncu, Ayşe Yağcı, Bircan Yorulmaz, Berfin Özgül Köse, Bülent Parmaksız, İsmail Şengül, Dilek Yağlı and Sibel Akdeniz were present in the courtroom.
The hearing started with the defense statement of HDP's RTÜK member Ali Ürküt and continued with the defense of his attorney.
Attorney Cihan Aydın referred to the indictment of the case and said that there were quotations from the ANF news agency's news:
"There are excerpts from the ANF news. It is like an indictment prepared by the ANF, not by the prosecutors. No documents or information has been added to the file except for this. No examination has been made as to the legality of what my client did as a politician. If what was done in 2010 was a crime, why wasn't it investigated until 2020?
"No trial is being held in this courtroom. We know how this indictment was prepared. What needs to be discussed in this trial is the content of the indictment. They have put 2 thousand 900 complainants before us. The perpetrators of several incidents were public officials, but they also want to be involved in this trial. But do you have any finding about thousands of HDP buildings set on fire in those days? No, you don't."
Following this statement, attorney Sezin Uçar, defendants Bülent Parmaksız, Alp Altınörs, Can Memiş and attorney Fikret İlkiz also made statements. Hearing the statements of defendants and attorneys, the court has ruled that defendants Ayhan Bilgen, Berfin Özgü Köse, Can Memiş and Cihan Erdal shall be released with an international travel ban.
The 3rd hearing will continue tomorrow (June 15).
From the Kobanî indictmentThe 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. 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. About Kobanî protestsBefore the protests held to support Kobanî in northern Syria in 2014, those who were waiting in the district of Suruç, Urfa in southeastern Turkey and wanted to cross the border were intervened with pepper gas and rubber bullets. In the meantime, some pictures allegedly showing ISIS militia crossing the border of Turkey were published. President and ruling AKP Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made statements indicating that they equated 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. |
(AS/SD)