37 Trials against Taraf Newspaper in One Day

A trial was opened against Taraf newspaper writer Neşe Düzel on the grounds of an interview she made with M. Şerif Gençdal, spokesman of the group that came to Turkey from Iraq in October 2009.

26 refugees from the UN refugee camp in Mahmur and eight former members of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) from the Qandil Mountain crossed the border to south-eastern Turkey upon imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan's call on 19 October 2009. They followed their own personal decisions as an attempt to push forward the jammed political process of finding a solution to the Kurdish question.

In her defence, journalist Düzel stated, "We are being tried for what is deemed a crime in the world of the prosecutor's mentality".

A total of 37 cases against Taraf newspaper employees were heard at the Kadıköy (Istanbul) Court on 10 December, the date of Düzel's hearing. Düzel is indicted under Article 215 of the Turkish Criminal Court (TCK) on "praising crime and a criminal". Reporter Dicle Baştürk is tried under Article 125TCK on "insult" and journalist Fırat Alkaç stands accused of the "attempt to influence a fair trial" according to Article 288. All trials are being heard before the Kadıköy 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance.

Düzel is being prosecuted un-detained. In her defence she claimed that they were not tried according to the law but for what is deemed a crime in the world of the prosecutor's mentality. "The people I talked to were not brought here by arresting them, they did not secretly sneak over the border into the country, they came openly. I am being tried for talking to people who crossed the border freely and without judicial governance. According to which laws, which measure and to which concept of law am I being prosecuted? Will you convict me because the political power changed its mind?" Düzel said.

Düzel's lawyer, Veysel Ok, put forward that his client made an interview with the aim to inform the public in order to make a contribution to social peace. He requested her acquittal. (EÖ/VK)