ANKARA- Stating that Kobané Case is a continuation of Şeyh Sait, Seyit Rıza and 49's Case, the Bar Presidents said: "Will the judges be able to handle this case?"

 

The first hearing of the Kobanê Trial, in which 108 people, 28 of whom are currently detained pending trial, including the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) former Co-Chairs Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahattin Demirtaş, will be held today at the Sincan Prison Campus by the Ankara 22nd High Criminal Court.

 

Lawyers and Bar Presidents of İzmir, Diyarbakır, Van, Şırnak, Urfa, Dersim, Hakkari, Ağrı, Bursa and Mardin will be following the trial. Bar Presidents spoke to Mesopotamia Agency (MA) ahead of the trial.

 

BAR ASSOCIATIONS WILL BE FOLLOWING THE HEARING

 

Diyarbakır Bar Association President Nahit Eren stated that they will be following the case closely as the Diyarbakır Bar Association. Reminding that Selahattin Demirtaş and Ayla Akat Ata, who were detained within the scope of the case, were also members of the Diyarbakır Bar Association, Eren said, “As it will be remembered, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has given a violation decision for the file where Selahattin Demirtaş was previously detained, and this decision was upheld by the Grand Chamber and the court stated that Demirtaş should be released immediately. However, the statements of the government official after this decision indicated that a new investigation was on the way to keep Demirtaş in prison and he was later arrested again after the investigation was expanded. But the new investigation was not actually new and Demirtaş was arrested for the same accusation he was acquitted from.

 

Eren said: "They are trying to criminalize a political party years after the Kobané protests and we can say that this case is closely related to the law suit against the HDP for its closure. There have been similar law suits against the Kurds and the Kurdish politicians through out the history of the Republic of Turkey. This case is a continuation of Şeyh Sait, Seyit Rıza and 49's Case. We know very well that these lawsuits were filed with the same intention back then. Once again, this case shows the government's intention to postpone the solution of the Kurdish issue, to instrumentalize the judiciary in political issues and to insist on a deadlock with security policies."

 

A HISTORICAL CASE

 

Underlining that the indictment is not even legal, Hakkari Bar President Ergün Canan said: "Kobané indictment is not legal and it is fictional. However, we do not have a lot of hope knowing that prosecution in Turkey is not done by objective courts. These courts are not independent and they do not decide based on evidence. The judiciary is controlled by the government. This is a conspiracy case. The world is watching. Turkey is watching. I can say that this is a historical case. Will the judges be able to handle this case? Will they decide based on evidence or will they decide based on the ideology of the government? We can not say.."

 

Urfa Bar President Abdullah Öncel said: "We know that this is a message to domestic punlic opinion and foreign public opinion. This is the revenge for Demirtaş's words when he said, "We will not let you be the President'. This is a political case. If the court can decide on its own, the faith in justice in Turkey will be restored.  This case is of historical importance. At the end of the trial, we will see whether the discourses of the political power will be realized or not. " 

 

MA / Zemo Ağgöz