Newroz Celebration Brings Sentences After Two Years

The members of the organization committee of the Adana Newroz meeting in 2006 have been sentenced to prison for “doing propaganda work for the Kurdish Workers Party” through the slogans chanted and the banners carried during the gathering.

Committee members Halil İmrek, Eylem Güden, Yılmaz Gül, Sima Dolak, Fadıl Bozan, Mehmet Aslan, Mehmet Yaşık and Yılmaz Gül had already been in prison for three months for the case filed against them.

In the hearing that took place three days ago, Ezgin Dursun and Cengiz Gültekin, speakers at the meeting, were sentenced to one year in prison as well.   

Court’s opinion

İmrek, one of the committee members and a member of the administrative board of the Labor Party (EMEP) gave bianet account of the court process and their experience.

Emphasizing that they had organized the meting together with the Socialist Democracy Party (SDP), Democratic Society Party (DTP), the EMEP, the Socialist Platform of the Oppressed (ESP), Mediterranean Culture Art Association, İmrek said:

“The celebration was held without any problems. Later they filed a lawsuit against us. Even though our addresses were known, we were still called in for our statements and they decided to keep us under arrest during our trial."

When the judge signed the verdict, he said he did not believe the accused were not going to commit the same crime again. İmrek said they appealed the decision.

“We hope that the Supreme Court of Appeals will overrule the decision. The decision is political and anti-democratic. The decision makes sense when one considers the pressures and the terror targeted at us. We think this is unlawful. The decision was taken beforehand and it seems that the necessary legal framework has been formed around it.”

“If the internal legal means are exhausted, we will take the case to the European Human Rights Court and express our reaction through public activities.(BÇ/EÜ/TB)