Van Criminal Court has ruled the liberation of a 8 Kurdish politicians under trial, including the city mayor Bekir Kaya.

Thirteen politicians were detained on 7 June 2012. Of these, 8 were still in prison, including the mayor of Van.

In the 710-page long indictment, all activities organized and joined by 13 elected politicians were re-classified as crimes. These include civilian Friday prayers (weekly Islamic prayers not organized by government’s official religious leaders) and even press statements (such as the one from Newroz on the 8th of March honoring International Women Workers Day).

"The state of the indictment - said the BDP - and the evidence clearly shows that this lawsuit is not filed due any violent action on the part of the defendants. The actions undertaken by the elected mayors and politicians in their official capacity should not be the subject of criminal proceedings. Yet these leaders have been imprisoned for months without seeing any indictment. Politicians were arrested and prosecuted for participating in politics, and mayors for engaging in municipal work and for implementing the policies of their party".