The Turkish courts have issued another scandalous decree. Mother Hanse and her nephew Mazlum Deniz who studies medicine in Harran University stayed at their home during the curfew declared on March 14, 2015 in Nusaybin. They called the police hotline and asked permission to leave the house when it came under bombardment on April 16. State forces evacuated Mother Hanse and Mazlum from the building and served the incident up in the pool media as “Terrorists detained”. Following the mise en scene by the state forces, Mother Hanse and Mazlum were detained. After days in detention, Mother Hanse was released but Mazlum was arrested and placed in Mardin Type E Closed Prison.

SCANDALOUS INDICTMENT ENDS IN SCANDALOUS VERDICT

The indictment prepared by the Mardin Public Prosecutor’s Office assumed Mother Hanse and her nephew Mazlum staying indoors during the curfew was “against normal proceeding of life”, and considered the situation proof that they were members of the terrorist organization, and demanded their punishment. The Mardin 2nd Penal Court accepted the indictment as is, and awarded the scandalous indictment with a scandalous verdict. The court said “It is against the normal proceeding of life that they were in the home for a month in Nusaybin without ties to the organisation,” and punished both Mother Hanse and her nephew Mazlum with the maximum sentence for membership, 13 years and 6 months. An arrest warrant was issued with lightning speed for Mother Hanse.

ATT. BAGI: “JUST TRAGICOMICAL”

The attorney in the case, Ziya Bagi spoke to ANF on the verdict and said that the state banned people from going outside by the decree they passed, but then the court of the state punished people for not going outside, and that it was a tragicomical scandal in law. He said they will appeal the verdict, and emphasized that this was a kind of unlawful situation not seen very often.

“IN THIS CASE, 10 THOUSAND RESIDENTS ARE MEMBERS OF A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION”

Bagi mentioned that around 10 thousand civilians stayed in their houses during the curfew, and said: “The Mardin Governorate themselves announced that thousands of people didn’t leave their homes during the curfew and were protected. Now, with this verdict, 10 thousand Nusaybin residents can be tried for being a member to a terrorist organisation.”

Bagi also said the fact that it was the maximum sentence for the crime of membership to a terrorist organization, 13 years and 6 months, was the scandal within the scandal, and that it is a political decision for the court to issue such high sentences for people who have never committed crimes before or sentenced for similar crimes.

Att. Bagi said they would keep following the case and that this verdict was completely unacceptable.