23-Year Prison Threat for Kurdish Politician
Altan Tan, Diyarbakır MP for the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) is facing imprisonment of 23 years and six months.
The indictment of the trial against Tan was prepared by the Public Chief Prosecution of Diyarbakır (south-eastern Turkey). The allegations are based on Tan's attending the funeral ceremony of members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) who were killed in clashes with security forces in Pazarçık (Kahramanmaraş) on 23 April 2011. He is also alleged of having joined a group that was chanting slogans in the favour of Abdullah Öcalan, imprisoned leader of the PKK.
Tan supposedly did not make any attempt to stop the group from shouting the pro-Öcalan slogans and thus allegedly contributed to the offence they were committing.
Furthermore, the indictment put forward that Tan participated in the three-day mourning announced by the PKK on 16 May and that he attended a press release and a commemoration ceremony for the killed PKK members.
The indictment seeks prison terms of 23 years and six months in total on the grounds of the three incidents. Tan is charged twice with "making propaganda for the PKK" and twice with "opposing the Law of Meetings and Demonstrations". Moreover, he is tried under allegations of "committing a crime on behalf of an illegal organization without being a member of the organization".
The trial will be heard before the Diyarbakır 7th High Criminal Court. (IC/VK)