The hearing for the Paris Massacre, where three Kurdish women politicians were martyred, was postponed indefinitely by the panel of judges. Protesting the postponement, the lawyers are expected to meet with the head of the panel.
The investigation file for the murders of PKK founder Sakine Cansız, KNK Paris Representative Fidan Doğan and Kurdish Youth Movement member Leyla Şaylemez on January 9, 2013 in French capital Paris had been completed in May 2015 and the hearing was scheduled for December 5-16, 2016.
Diaspora Kurds in particular were focused on the hearing in December when a new development came to pass. Selma Akkaya from Yeni Özgür Politika reported that the Special Penal Court noticed the lawyers that they had postponed the hearing.
NO EXPLANATION GIVEN TO LAWYERS
The lawyers weren’t given an explanation as to when the hearing will be held. Lawyers of the three revolutionary women’s families objected to the postponement of the hearing and expressed that “the court should inform the lawyers why the hearing was postponed”.
The panel of judges answered that they “didn’t have to give [them] an explanation”. The families’ lawyers think the decision is political. They stated that their opposition to the matter will continue and they are expected to meet with the chief judge.
REQUEST FOR RELEASE WAS DENIED
In the previous weeks, Ömer Güney had appealed to the court on grounds of his health and requested his release but the court had denied his request, citing that he was at flight risk, he didn’t have health problems that would prevent him being in prison and that he was the indictee in a case that disrupts the public conscience.
Following such a decision, it is significant that the French justice system is postponing the hearing scheduled for December. The results of the lawyers’ opposition to the court postponing the hearing and meeting with the chief judge will surface in the coming days, but it is clear that the postponement is a purely political act.
