The Ankara 10^th Criminal Court of First Instance handed down a 1year and six months prison sentence to defendant Volkan Sevinç and imprisonment of 6 months each to defendants Gökçe Otlu Sevimli, Halil Savda and Zarife Ferda Çakmak. They were among the 19 defendants on trial because of a press release made in order to support conscientious objector Enver Aydemir.

The press release was delivered on Ankara's popular Yüksel Avenue on 6 January. The 19 defendants were charged with "violating the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations", "praising crime and a criminal", "alienating the public from military service" and "violation of Law No. 6136" on Firearms and Knives.

The un-detained defendants Volkan Sevinç, Kemal Bolat, Zarife Ferda Çakmak, Gökçe Otlu Sevimli, Selçuk Akbıyık, Haydar Uçar, İbrahim Kızartıcı, Cemil Cahit Selimoğlu, Halil Savda, Fatih Özkan, Zeynep Çiçek, Selen Tarikci, Kıvılcım İlbaşı, Güneş Selma Yıldız, Nisan Kuyucu, Özgün Taşar, Umur Gedik, Özgür Aydın and İlham Yılmaz did not attend the hearing on 17 June.

Prosecutor demanded acquittal

Public Prosecutor Lütfü Karakuş pleaded for the full acquittal of all defendants in his final submission to the court.

Karakuş argued that the press release could not be assessed as a violation of the law on meetings. He continued that charges of "praising crime and a criminal" did not comply with the fact that conscientious objector Aydemir had actually not been convicted. Thus, Karakuş requested the acquittal of all 19 defendants.

The indictment furthermore called for prison sentence on the grounds of "alienating the public from military service". Karakuş pointed to Article 25 of the Constitution on Freedom of Thought and Opinion and Article 26 on Freedom of Expression and Dissemination of Thought to convey his demand.

He emphasized that the banners posted and slogans shouted in the course of the press release were part of freedom of expression in a democratic state of law. According to the prosecutor, the defendants voiced their personal views and preferences regarding the military."Taking into consideration the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the allegation of alienating the public from military service lacks a legal base", he claimed.

Defendant Sevinç allegedly carried a buck knife and insulted police officers on duty. Karakuş pointed out that there was no evidence against Sevinç and requested his acquittal, too.

Court insisted on "guilt"

The court sentenced Sevinç to 1.5 years imprisonment because of "insult of police officers on duty" and "alienating the public from military service". Sevimli, Savda and Çakmak received six-months sentences each on the grounds of "alienating the public from military service".

The court postponed the pronouncement of judgement for Sevimli, Savda and Çakmak. (BB/EÖ)