The sixth hearing of the trial against Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan’s lawyers resumes at Istanbul 16th High Criminal Court at Silivri Prison complex on Tuesday.

50 defendants, among whom one journalist and 16 lawyers acting for the Kurdish leader have been under arrest since the KCK operation on 22 December 2011, are being tried in the scope of so-called "KCK Leadership Committee" case.

The lawyers of Kurdish leader are accused of "being members or executives of an illegal organization" in connection with the meetings they had with their client, allegedly providing communication between the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) and its leader Öcalan.

Seven lawyers had been released following the fifth hearing of the trial in June.

The hearing is being attended by BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) Şırnak deputy Hasip Kaplan and some 30 lawyers from the Bar Associations of Paris, Londra, Berlin and France and the European Democratic Lawyers.

The hearing began with the defense statement of lawyer Mehmet Sani Kızılkaya who expressed himself in Kurdish through an interpreter.