Thirty-one people arrested in Þýrnak
Thirty-one people arrested in Þýrnak
Thirty-one out of 37 people detained last week in Þýrnak on suspected links with the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) have been arrested today.
The policy followed by the Turkish authorities seems to be one of slowly taking away from the political scene as many Kurdish politicians and activists as they can. Indeed it has been a continuous dripping, with tens of people taken into custody on a daily basis for over two years.
It was BDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaþ who said on Sunday speaking to journalists after the "Kurdistan Conference", "they are carrying out raids against the BDP hiding the emptiness of accusation behind the KCK case. BDP is the people, it is made of Kurdish people. Turkey - added Demirtaþ - must be the only government in the world declaring its people terrorist and engaging a fierce war against them". And then Demirtaþ asked: "Do you intend to arrest all Kurds? I am afraid you have not enough prisons to do that, because the Kurdish people will continue to struggle and take to the streets".
The Thirty-seven people were detained in Cizre district as part of an operation against the KCK and were questioned by police. All of the detainees appeared in court for arrest after they were questioned further by a prosecutor. The court arrested 31 suspects and released the remaining six pending trial.
The so called KCK investigation started in December 2009 and a large number of Kurdish politicians, including several mayors from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), have been detained in the case. The suspects are accused of various crimes, including membership in a terrorist organization, aiding and abetting a terrorist organization and attempting to destroy the country's unity and integrity. The suspects include mayors and municipal officials from the BDP.
The main trial opened in Diyarbakir last year and to date not a single evidence has been produced in court. What the judges have done is postponing the trial, clearly for lack of consistency in the whole procedure. Indeed the Diyarbakir trial has been postponed to December, 103 days after the last hearing.
The policy followed by the Turkish authorities seems to be one of slowly taking away from the political scene as many Kurdish politicians and activists as they can. Indeed it has been a continuous dripping, with tens of people taken into custody on a daily basis for over two years.
It was BDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaþ who said on Sunday speaking to journalists after the "Kurdistan Conference", "they are carrying out raids against the BDP hiding the emptiness of accusation behind the KCK case. BDP is the people, it is made of Kurdish people. Turkey - added Demirtaþ - must be the only government in the world declaring its people terrorist and engaging a fierce war against them". And then Demirtaþ asked: "Do you intend to arrest all Kurds? I am afraid you have not enough prisons to do that, because the Kurdish people will continue to struggle and take to the streets".
The Thirty-seven people were detained in Cizre district as part of an operation against the KCK and were questioned by police. All of the detainees appeared in court for arrest after they were questioned further by a prosecutor. The court arrested 31 suspects and released the remaining six pending trial.
The so called KCK investigation started in December 2009 and a large number of Kurdish politicians, including several mayors from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), have been detained in the case. The suspects are accused of various crimes, including membership in a terrorist organization, aiding and abetting a terrorist organization and attempting to destroy the country's unity and integrity. The suspects include mayors and municipal officials from the BDP.
The main trial opened in Diyarbakir last year and to date not a single evidence has been produced in court. What the judges have done is postponing the trial, clearly for lack of consistency in the whole procedure. Indeed the Diyarbakir trial has been postponed to December, 103 days after the last hearing.
