The Azadi Law Office, headquartered in Cologne, Germany, made a written statement regarding the latest situation in the cases of Kurdish politicians and activists standing trial in the country. The statement said that despite the cancellation of trials and hearings in many cities due to the coronavirus epidemic, it is remarkable that the political cases against Kurds continue without a hitch.

According to the Azadi Law Office’s statement, the trial of 8 Kurds in Stuttgart and Koblenz will continue despite the measures taken to confront the epidemic. The statement released information about the hearings scheduled to take place next February. According to this, the most important of the trials filed on the grounds of article 129b of the German Penal Code and known as "PKK cases" is an ongoing trial against 5 Kurdish activists in Stuttgart, which is also deemed as a test suit.

Veysel S., Agit K., Özkan T., Cihan A. and Evrim A. who have been tried by the Higher State Court in Stuttgart-Stammheim since April 2019 will appear before a judge on February 4, 5 11 and 12. All the hearings will begin at 09:00 in the case where 3 people are jailed pending trial and 2 people standing trial without arrest.

The trial of Kurdish activist Kamuran Yekta V, who has been tried by the High State Court in Stuttgart since October 2020, will take place on February 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17, 23 and 24.

TWO TRIALS IN KOBLENZ

The trial of two Kurdish activists, Gökmen C. and Hüseyin A., who were detained on different dates on similar charges, are also continuing in Koblenz. Hüseyin A., who has been on trial at the Supreme State Court in Koblenz since January last year, will stand trial on February 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 18 and 19. The next hearing of Gökmen Ç. will take place on February 9 at 09:30.

The Azadi Law Office reported that a total of 11 Kurdish activists / politicians were detained or convicted in Germany due to the political investigations and lawsuits. The common point of all cases is that Kurdish politicians and activists are tried with similar indictments prepared by copying, without considering their individual situation.

10 YEARS OF 129B CASES

The "anti-terror law" called "129b" was enacted following the September 11, 2001 attacks to facilitate the arrest and trial of Al-Qaeda members in Germany. However, the law is claimed to include "foreign terrorist organizations" and is used against leftist/socialist movements, mainly the Kurdistan Freedom Struggle, Turkish, Palestinian and other Tamil revolutionaries.

When the scope of "129b" was enlarged to include the PKK in 2010 at the instruction of the Ministry of Justice, investigations against the Kurds were opened without any evidence. Afterwards, about twenty Kurdish politicians and activists, whose asylum requests had been accepted by Germany, were treated as "terrorists" and sentenced to prison sentences.