Anti-Nuclear Protestors on Trial

58 defendants are being prosecuted in Ankara on the grounds of their participation in an anti-nuclear demonstration in front of the Parliament. They started to give their statements at the Ankara court this week. The case was postponed to 12 January 2011, when the remaining statements will be taken.

The defendants are charged with "opposing the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations". After the hearing on Thursday (28 October), anti-nuclear protestors posted issued a press release in front of a banner reading "We are against nuclear power as well, you should try us too".

The protest is based on the government's decision to build nuclear power plants in Turkey. 58 anti-nuclear protestors demonstrated in front of the parliament on 6 July against the parliamentary approval of an agreement with Russia to build the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Mersin (eastern Mediterranean). The prosecutor demands prison sentences of between six months and three years for the environmentalists.

Greenpeace activist Korol Diker, responsible for the Campaign on Climate and Energy in the Mediterranean, criticized, "We are prosecuted here today because we made use of our freedom of thought and expression which is guaranteed by international agreements".

"We were hindered to raise our voices against crimes committed against the individual and nature. It is even punished to prevent these crimes by peaceful means. One cannot speak of democracy and personal freedoms in such a country. And even worse, the attempt to silence this sort of actions is far away from any surveillance by the government, the citizens and the civil society; the obtained power opens the door to abuse".

Ümit Şahin, co-spokesperson of the Green Party, announced, "Most of the people living in Mersin, Akkuyu and Sinop do not want dirty nuclear energy. The people living in Turkey have the right to be informed about the dangers of nuclear power plants. The petition we tried to bring before the parliament was signed by 170,000 people. This is one of the proofs that the vast majority of people are against nuclear power".

"The government wants the people to accept the agreements without questions, it is even getting away from legal auditing. We think that in a democratic and open society, all kinds of efforts to warn the public about the danger of nuclear power stations and efforts that reflect the people's reactions on the administration are necessary. We will always stand up against nuclear power, wherever and whenever", Şahin stated.

Spokesperson Sabahat Aslan from the Platform against Nuclear Power in Mersin claimed that nuclear power endangered the right to live. He stressed that the people in Mersin did not want nuclear power. (EÜ/VK)