Defendant Lawyers Forcibly Expelled Out of Courtroom

The court delegation in the ongoing Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) Istanbul trial ordered the defendant lawyers out of the courtroom yesterday. Gendarmerie troops then expelled the lawyers out of the building by force.

"One of [our] clients attempted to make a statement about hunger strikes and the right to defense while the hearing was underway. When the judge stopped [our client, defendant] lawyer Ercan Kanar told them they could not obstruct the right to defense," Züleyha Gülüm, one of the defendant lawyers in the case, told bianet.

"The court delegation issued a recess following Kanar's objection. When the hearing got underway again, the delegation ruled to expel lawyer Kanar and the audience out of the courtroom on the grounds they had violated the integrity of the hearing. [The delegation also] ordered the suspect whose statement they had obstructed to be removed from the trial for nine days," she said.

Some 205 suspects are currently standing trial in the KCK Istanbul case at the 15th High Criminal Court in the district of Silivri, 124 of them arrested pending trial.

"The court delegation then directed the gendarmerie to remove Ercan Kanar out of the courtroom by using force if necessary. In turn, we said we would not consent to this and that we were going to present our objections to the court delegation. The court delegation, however, did not come back to the hearing room. We were physically and forcibly expelled outside in accordance with a new directive," she explained.

The suspects consequently sat with their backs turned to the court delegation in protest of their decision, she said.

No verbal defense

Meanwhile, the judges also requested the defendant lawyers to present their pleas in writing.

"An unlawful process has been underway since the beginning of the trial. The court told us this morning that it would not grant us any time for defense and requested that we present our demands in writing," lawyer Gülüm said.

"Penal trials are subject to verbal hearings. The current situation, however, is about [the judges] conducting the trial all on their own. Neither can the suspects issue their pleas due to [the court's refusal] to fetch translators nor does the court grant us any time [for defense.] We are told to hand over our petitions so as to let the court decide on its own," she added.

"What are we doing at the hearing if no verbal defense is to take place?" Gülüm asked.

"That this is a politically motivated trial was evident from the start, but what happened today puts it all beyond doubt. The expulsion of a lawyer because he said they cannot obstruct the right to defense is an indication that they want to conduct a trial without any lawyers or defense pleas," she said. (ÇT)