Second KCK Trial in Adana to Start Soon

On 22 October, the first hearing of the KCK trial in Adana (eastern Mediterranean) will be held. The KCK is the Democratic Confederation of Kurdistan (KCK) as the urban structure of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). After the start of the KCK trial in Diyarbakır on Monday (18 October), the defendants in Adana are expected to request permission to present their defence in Kurdish.

47 defendants, 22 of whom are detained, will stand trial at the Adana 8^th High Criminal Court. bianet talked to defence lawyer Vedat Özkan prior to the start of the trial. Based on visits to his clients in prison, Özkan confirmed that his clients are inclined to present their defence in Kurdish.

Özkan: We request a courageous decision

Özkan described the right to a defence in Kurdish as a "legal right". He stated, "We will say that it is the legal right of our clients to present their defence in the language they are comfortable with. We will also indicate that this complies with the principle of a fair trial".

The indictment of the Adana KCK trial has 360 pages. Özkan said that they would not insist on reading out the indictment as a whole just as it was agreed in the Diyarbakır case. The lawyer argued that one part of the requests would definitely be made before the indictment will be read. He is going to demand the release of his clients pending trial and announced that they will ask for their defence statements to be taken.

"It did not serve peace to prosecute [members of] political organs and parties. The positive atmosphere that developed in Turkey should not vanish. Therefore, we request a courageous decision from the court with the release of the defendants", Özkan said.

DTP provincial mayors detained

The gendarmerie and the police carried out raids in Adana on 15 August 2008 in the scope of the so-called KCK operation. A total of 47 people were taken into custody, twelve of whom were arrested. Among the detained defendants are the Mayor of Misis, Burhan Aras, Zeki Karataş as the former Adana Provincial Chair or the dissolved pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), Seyhan District Mayor Mehmet Nardan and Yüreğir District Mayor Durmaz Özmen. The operations were also continued later on.

Radio journalist Karavil on trial as well

Kenan Karavil, publication director of the Adana Radio Dünya ('World'), was arrested on 10 December 2009 in the scope of the case and has been detained ever since. He was taken to the Kürkçüler F Type Prison. The journalist is charged with "committing a crime on behalf of an illegal organization" and "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization". He is facing a prison sentence of between eight to 22.5 years.

Defence lawyer Özkan informed bianet that Karavil's telephone conversations and news were counted as criminal offences. His daily broadcasts and news documents found in the radio station were evaluated the same way, Özkan said.

The indictment was presented to the Adana 8^th High Criminal Court on 25 June. It was sent back to the Adana Public Prosecution by reasons of "inadequate evidence" and because it "did not specifically describe the crimes of the detained defendants". (EÖ/VK)