Defendants Insist on Defence in Their Mother Tongue

The 23 defendants standing trial for their alleged membership of the underground Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) are not allowed to present their defence in Kurdish as their mother tongue. Among the defendants are Füsün Erdoğan, publications director of Özgür ('Free') Radio, Atılım newspaper publications director İbrahim Çiçek and the paper's publication co-ordinator, Sedat Şenoğlu.

The 23 defendants, seven of whom are detained, are tried before the Istanbul 14^th High Criminal Court. Some of the defendants have been detained for more than four years.

The recent hearing of the case was scheduled for 10 December, a date that marks the international Human Rights Day at the same time. The session was observed by representatives of the Freedom for Journalists Platform and of some socialist groups.

Atılım newspaper employee Çiçek stated in his defence, "As the socialist offspring of the Turkish people I am hurt that my mother tongue has become a means of oppression for our brother people".

"I demand to end the denying, annihilating and assimilating policies that constrain a defence in Kurdish and I demand to lift the ban from the mother tongue. In the name of the national honour of the Kurdish people and in the name of peace and brotherhood I say as a Turkish socialist 'Ez ji li vir im' [I am here]. I want my brothers and sisters to be educated in their mother tongue, ez ji li vir im".

Defendant Arif Çelebi emphasized that the long period of detention has turned into torture. He requested the court to end this torture on the World Human Rights Day.

The court president hindered defendant Seyfi Polat from reading out his defence speech that he had prepared in Kurdish. When Polat insisted, the court board interrupted the hearing. After the intermission, the defence lawyers were heard. They criticized the court for violating the defendants' right to a fair trial.

Defendant Rıza Bozkurt, who was indicted in the scope of the trial later on, was released pending trial. The coming hearing is scheduled for 17 May 2011. (EÜ/VK)

*Source: Semra Çelebi.