32 members of the Confederation of Public Employees’ Trade Unions (KESK) were battered and arrested during a demonstration organised by KESK Diyarbakır Branches Platform on July 17 in protest at the dismissals with statutory decrees.  

The first hearing in the trial of 32 trade unionists was held in Diyarbakır on Tuesday. The KESK officials and members that attended the hearing rejected the accusations directed against them and requested their acquittal.

The judge sentenced 32 unionists to 1 year and 6 months in prison each for “opposing the law on meetings and demonstrations”. The execution of the sentences was not postponed.

The trade unionists sentenced to prison are:

Abbas Aslan, Abdülbaki Öndeş, Ali Osman Telek, Anıl Aslan, Bahar Yıldırım, Bedirhan Çetinkaya, Eray Erdem, Erhan Keskin, Eser Bulut, Fatma Kılıç, Fatma Yıldızhan, Fırat Akdeniz, Gülhan Tekin, Gültekin Aydeniz, Hasbiye Sol, Hatice Efe, Hüseyin Kaya, Mahmut Ortaç, Mehmet Karakaş, Mehmet Nur Ulus, Orhan Baylan, Recep Oruç, Recep Şimşek, Rengin Boltan, Rozerin Çatak, Siraç Çelik, Süleyman Bülbül, Şemsettin Ayçiçek, Ümit Çetiner, Zeki Kanay, Zelal Bilgin, Zülküf Güneş.