IHD Condemns Prosecution's Attack

The Supreme Court of Appeals' Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has written an indictment concerning the demand for the closure of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP). In the indictment, links are drawn between the DTP and the Turkish Human Rights Association (IHD).

According to the prosecution, "it is clear that the association works under the control of the PKK".

Öndül: "We are not on trial..." 

Hüsnü Öndül, president of the Human Rights Association, has reacted to the indictment, saying, "We believe that the Chief Prosecution is violating the principle of the rule of law by accusing the IHD, people who are not part of the case."

Speaking with bianet, Öndül added: "We are not an institution on trial, but the indictment makes judgments about us. The Chief Prosecution is making judgments about the IHD, which is not being investigated, in an indictment concerning the demand to close a political party."

 "...so why are we in the indictment?"

Öndül said that there is no causal connection between the demand to close the DTP, the resignation of writer Adalet Agaoglu from the IHD and the IHD: "A first-year law student would know this, so it is impossible for the Chief Prosecution not to. So how is it that we are mentioned in the indictment? We believe that this is a matter concerning the principle of rule of law."

"An independent judiciary must keep clear of any ideological approaches and justice must not be influenced. But here we see that not legal criteria, but ideological and political criteria are being used, that there are subjective evaluations."
"Of course we realise that this is also a threat. The proceedings concern the demand to close a political party which represents an important actor in the Kurdish question in Turkey. We do not want to become a side issue here."

Prosecution: "Fully under control of the PKK"

Chief Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya wrote on page 44 of the indictment:

"Another event on the national platform which needs to be evaluated is the fact that writer Adalet Agaoglu, a founding member of the IHD, resigned from the association,arguing that after Emil Galip Sandalci lost the post of president of the Istanbul branch, the association followed a policy of supporting the PKK and becoming one-sidedly racist and nationalist. The IHD, which has clearly been pulled from where it should be to an unrelated position, expresses the same opinions as the DTP on trial (and the terrorist organisation PKK) on almost every platform because of what Agaoglu observed. It is thus clear that the Human Rights Association is acting fully under the control of the terrorist organisation PKK." (TK/NZ/AG)