The §129a/b trial against the Kurdish activist Mustafa Çelik was continued at the Hamburg Higher Regional Court. As previously announced, the public prosecutor's office read out requests for evidence, the content of which included statements by the People's Defense Forces (HPG) and reports in various print and online media about military and warlike conflicts between the Kurdish guerrillas and Turkish military and police forces on Turkish territory.

On Wednesday, September 9, the court will decide on a motion by the defense to commission the Hamburg-based international law expert Norman Paech to prepare an expert opinion. The expert opinion is to allow the Criminal Senate to come to the legal conclusion that "actions of the People's Defense Forces (HPG) do not constitute legally admissible reference offences for a criminal prosecution of the accused" according to section 129b of the German Criminal Code.

Professor Norman Paech has published numerous papers on international law issues and was involved in the International Tribunal against the Turkish State in Paris in March 2018. He has been intensively involved in the Kurdish-Turkish conflict for years, visiting Kurdistan several times and holding talks with, among others, with KCK co-chair Cemil Bayik.

The hearing was adjourned to Wednesday at 1 pm. Other scheduled trial dates are September 14, 15, 16, 23 and 24.

Photo: Defense attorneys Heinz Schmitt and Tuncay Karaman before the Hamburg Higher Regional Court