Defence Lawyers about to Withdraw from KCK Trial
The main trial against the Union of Kurdistan Communities/Turkey Assembly (KCK/TM) was continued before the Diyarbakır 6th High Criminal Court on Tuesday (19 April). The KCK is the umbrella organization that includes the armed outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
At the Tuesday hearing, the defence lawyers expressed their protest against the repeated refusal of the court to permit a defence in Kurdish as the mother language of many defendants. The joint attorneys also criticized that the decision on the shape of the proceedings was not announced by the court. Thereupon, the lawyers declared to withdraw from the case and left the courtroom. The hearing was adjourned to 26 April in order to evaluate the demands of the lawyers.
A total of 152 defendants, 104 of whom are detained, stand trial in the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakır. They were taken into police custody in the course of four different operations carried out in the scope of the investigation run by the Diyarbakır Public Chief Prosecution. Twelve mayors of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) are among the defendants.
Detained defendants Nizamettin Onar, Zeynel Mat, İhsan Sevitek, Abdurrahman Tanrıverdi, Adnan Bayram and Veysi Akar were taken to court from the Diyarbakır D Type Prison for the 21st hearing of the trial. Un-detained defendants Beyhan Sakin and Songül Erol Abdil, fomer Mayor of Tunceli, appeared at court as well.
The hearing was monitored by former BDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş, Hakkari MPs Hamit Geylani and Gülten Kışanak, independent MP Candidates Altan Tan and Ferhat Tunç, Deputy Chair of the Republican People's Party (CHP) Sezgin Tanrıkulu and a number of trial observers from abroad.
"Resistance against the Kurdish language"
Court President Menderes Yılmaz asked defendant Abdil to present his defence after the allegations against him had been read out. Abdil answered that he would like to read his two-page defence prepared in the Zaza language, a dialect of the Kurdish language. Thereupon, the court president had Abdil's microphone switched off.
Court President Yılmaz said for the record, "The defendant spoke in a language supposed to be Kurdish. The advocators of the defendant said he spoke in the Zaza language". The lawyers objected when the defence was not included in the case file. They assessed the decision as "unlawful and a breach of law".
Defence lawyer Yusuf Ayata remarked that the two-page written defence would have to be included into the file and that it should be translated. "The defence might include information on the crime and the criminal. What kind of bias is this?" Ayata questioned.
Court President Yılmaz pointed out that the defendant prepared his defence in another language despite the fact that he knew Turkish. He dismissed the defendant's request in line with previous decisions given in this context. When detained defendant Adnan Bayram started to present his defence in Kurdish as well, the microphone was switched off again.
Defence lawyer Mehmet Emin Aktar accused the court board of "resistance against the Kurdish language".
100 lawyers left the courtroom
Finally, the judge announced to close the session without having specified an opinion on the case. The defence lawyers objected but the court president insisted. Thereupon, Diyarbakır Bar Association President Aktar said on behalf of all defence lawyers, "We insistently try to fulfil our duty of defence. Yet, there is nothing legitimate left to do. Therefore, we are leaving". About 100 defence lawyers left the courtroom subsequently.
The lawyers protested with a sit-down demonstration at the exit of the courthouse. They announced that the decision to withdraw was valid for that day's hearing but that they were thinking of withdrawing from the case as a whole. (AS/EÖ/VK)