Peace in Kurdistan stands in solidarity with the Kurdish people and rights activists charged under the Terrorism Act 2000 for exercising the right of peaceful protest.

There will be a vigil tomorrow, Friday 18th November at 9am, when the first hearing takes place at Westminster Magistrates Court, Marylebone Road.

Kurdish rights activist Mark Campbell and Beritan, a Kurdish woman from Liverpool, have been charged under anti-terrorism legislation for displaying a Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) flag at a march in London.

Peace in Kurdistan Campaign urges everyone to attend the vigil and support Mark and Beritan and writes in its statement: "We have long warned that UK anti-terrorism laws pose a direct threat to the rights to protest and free expression in this country.

It is an assault on basic justice that UK law is increasingly being used to silence opposition to the Turkish regime as it wages its brutal war against the Kurds.

The law should not be used so flagrantly to threaten campaigners and activists who are simply trying to draw attention to the grotesque violations of human rights inside Turkey or anywhere else in the world for that matter."

Peace in Kurdistan continues: "This country has a long tradition of welcoming exiles and people fleeing political oppression abroad like the Kurds have been able to rebuild their lives here. These rights must be protected and remain available to everyone."

Mark Campbell said ahead of the hearing: "The case presents us all, everyone who campaigns on the Kurdish issue and supports the Kurds in the UK with an opportunity to highlight the UK government's complicity in the criminalisation of the Kurds and their friends and I hope you will be able to join us in using the campaign to turn the tables against the UK government and put a spotlight on their relationship with Turkey and complicity when it comes to repressing the Kurds."