Demirtaþ: We hope defense in mother tongue will be allowed in court
Demirtaþ: We hope defense in mother tongue will be allowed in court
The 29th hearing of the trial against 152 Kurdish politicians and human rights activists has opened in Diyarbakýr. The trial was adjourned last week.
Speaking before the KCK trial, BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) Co-chair Selahattin Demirtaþ said that “As is known, there has been a deadlock at trials since the court refused defendants’ self-defense in mother tongue. And lawyers have decided to not to attend trials. However, some of these problems have been settled now and lawyers will attend trials. We hope that the trial will progress and the right for self-defense in mother-tongue will be recognized this time.”
Demirtaþ remarked that KCK detainees have been remanded in custody for more than three years now and added; “The first KCK detainees were arrested on 14 April 2009 since when even a single person hasn’t been released. Besides the public restless these operations caused for three years, this unlawfulness and injustice have also injured the public conscience. Still, a verdict of release of defendants will no doubt strengthen hopes for a solution in Turkey. This is what we expect from this trial.”
Pointing out that both the judicial and judged sides knew very well that this is a political operation, Demirtaþ continued as follows; “In this respect, judges are supposed to feel free to make a legal decision without feeling the government pressure. They are supposed to give a verdict in accordance with the public conscience. Trials begin today and we don’t know how long they will last but we expect the court to release our friends.”
Speaking before the KCK trial, BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) Co-chair Selahattin Demirtaþ said that “As is known, there has been a deadlock at trials since the court refused defendants’ self-defense in mother tongue. And lawyers have decided to not to attend trials. However, some of these problems have been settled now and lawyers will attend trials. We hope that the trial will progress and the right for self-defense in mother-tongue will be recognized this time.”
Demirtaþ remarked that KCK detainees have been remanded in custody for more than three years now and added; “The first KCK detainees were arrested on 14 April 2009 since when even a single person hasn’t been released. Besides the public restless these operations caused for three years, this unlawfulness and injustice have also injured the public conscience. Still, a verdict of release of defendants will no doubt strengthen hopes for a solution in Turkey. This is what we expect from this trial.”
Pointing out that both the judicial and judged sides knew very well that this is a political operation, Demirtaþ continued as follows; “In this respect, judges are supposed to feel free to make a legal decision without feeling the government pressure. They are supposed to give a verdict in accordance with the public conscience. Trials begin today and we don’t know how long they will last but we expect the court to release our friends.”
