Politicians tried in the main Istanbul KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) trial have refused to attend the second session of the 9th hearing in protest at disciplinary penalties and 24-hour CCTV surveillance. The court has ordered them to be brought to court by force.    

83 of the 204 Kurdish politicians and human rights activists being tried at the Istanbul 15th High Criminal Court in the main Istanbul KCK trial are in custody. Their lawyers stated that the reasons their clients had refused to attend the hearing were disciplinary penalties exceeding 40 years, 24-hour CCTV surveillance, the transfer of those in custody to different prisons and the failure of the prison authorities to address these issues.

The politicians on trial expressed their views in a statement which said that; "Since spring thousands of PKK prisoners have been exiled from Kurdistan to prisons in the Marmara region. The purpose of these transfers is to punish the families and prevent the treatment of sick prisoners."  

"On 30 November PKK prisoners in Tekirdağ prison were transferred to Silivri prison, with many of them being put in solitary. Those on remand in the KCK trial are being denied their fundamental right to exercise and to visit the library, and their families are subjected to humiliating treatment during searches during visits to the prison. Disciplinary measures mean our colleagues are being punished twice. Some of them have been denied telephone calls and visits for 7 or 8 months. Items posted to us are not being given to us for arbitrary reasons. We are therefore refusing to attend court in protest at the attitude of the prison authorities."