Bedri Adanır, the licence holder of Aram Publications and representative of the Hawar newspaper, was arrested on the order of the Diyarbakır 6th High Criminal Court after entering Turkey from Northern Iraq.

He has been in prison in Diyarbakır since 5 January, accused of "spreading propaganda of an illegal organisation" in newspaper articles and three books, which include the defence of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, and of "praising a criminal". He faces up to 31 years imprisonment.

Adanır faces a court case for a book of Öcalan's speeches, entitled "On the Culture-Art Revolution", which was not given a revenue stamp by the Ministry of Culture and thus not published officially. Two other books, entitled "Democratic Civilisation" and "Freedom Sociology" also form part of the accusation.

The publishing house was raided by the police in October 2008 and an investigation into certain documents began.

Three trials merged 

Muharrem Şahin, Adanır's lawyer, has told bianet that his client faces three trials, which have now been merged. Two concern articles he wrote for the newspaper, while one deals with the book containing Öcalan's defence speeches.

He faces two accusations of spreading terrorist propaganda, three accusations of "praising a crime and a criminal" and one accusation of membership in an illegal organisation.

First hearing

At the hearing yesterday (25 February), Adanır was in court before judges for the first time.

He said in his defence that he some of the banned books he owned had been acquired prior to their confiscation orders and that he needed them and other materials for his work.

His lawyer criticised the "unfair and arbitrary" manner in which the publishing house has been described as the PKK's publishing company.

The court refused to release the defendant because of the "quality of the crimes" he is accused of and because of the existing evidence. The next hearing will be on 6 May. (EÖ/AG)