HDP Muş Co-Chair Arrested

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Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Muş Co-Chair Elif Çetinbaş, who had been put on trial without arrest due to attending the press conference at Kobane demonstrations last year, has been sentenced to nine years and 41 months of imprisonment.

The decision has been announced in the fifth hearing of the trial held today (December 29).

Muş High Criminal Court has sentenced Çetinbaş to nine years of imprisonment due to charges of “not being a member of the terrorist organization but committing crimes on behalf of it”, 33 months and 22 days for “resisting against the officer in charge in the scope of organization’s activities”, eight months for “opposing meeting and demonstration march”, adding up to 12 years, five months and 22 days of imprisonment in total. No abatement has been granted for the punishment.

Being acquitted from the charges of “damaging the public property” and “being a member of the terrorist organization”, Çetinbaş has been taken into custody while leaving her house and delivered to Muş E-type prison.  

Çetinbaş’s attorney Kadir Karaçelik has noted in his statement to bianet, that the punishment had been against the procedure and law, that they would object to the arrest and file an appeal.

“customized judiciary carried out”

Karaçelik has mentioned that an uproar had occurred between the police and certain persons following the press statement in Muş during Kobane demonstrations on October 6-7. He has added that Elif Çetinbaş had only been one of thousand others who had attended the press conference.  

He has pointed out, that during the trial, her case had been tried to be linked to possessing hand-made explosives yet a verdict of non-prosecution had been passed with regards to these charges due to the evidences submitted by the prosecutor.

Karaçelik has stated that a “customized trial had been carried out”.

“Elif Çetinbaş had been tried for approximately one year without arrest. She has attended all the hearings. In the last hearing, a judicial control decision and a ban on leaving the country have been imposed. The court has ordered an arrest although she had obeyed the judicial control, had no criminal record, there was no escaping of hiding suspect and no change in the situation of the evidences.

“Elif Çetinbaş, like 5,000 others, had only attended a press conference and made use of her democratic and constitutional freedom of expression and has been punished for it.

“The same court has not sentenced others who have attended the same press conference to such punishment. Many of these have been put on trial without arrest and many others have been acquitted. Also the ones resisting the police have been sentenced to a less harsh punishment. Taking all these into account, the whole picture indicates that a customized judiciary has been carried out”. (BK/DG)