Mayor Baydemir Facing 28 Years in Jail
As reported on 8 November, Osman Baydemir, Metropolitan Mayor of Diyarbakır (south-eastern Turkey), is facing prison terms of up to 28 years in a trial opened against him recently. Baydemir is being tried under allegations of "committing a crime on behalf of an illegal organization without being a member of that organization" and of "making propaganda for an illegal organization".
The indictment was prepared by the Diyarbakır Public Chief Prosecution and was now accepted by the Diyarbakır 7th High Criminal Court. The indictment apparently identified three activities Baydemir participated in on three different dates as elements of crime.
The indictment put forward that the mayor attended the funeral ceremony of four out of seven killed members of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on 4 May. The PKK members were supposedly killed in armed conflicts in the Pülümür district (Kızılmescit village) of Dersim on 27/29 April. It is also said that Baydemir "made propaganda for an illegal organization" during a protest action against that incident organized by the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) on 30 April.
Furthermore, the indictment points to Baydemir's attendance of an occasion that marked the anniversary of the arrest of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan in Kenya and his transfer to Turkey. "It was understood that Baydemir committed a crime by attending activities in line with calls for action from the PKK and its illegal wings that aimed at staking Öçalan's claims and at deepening and rooting his opinions and thoughts in society and by walking in front of the picture of Öcalan", the indictment reads.
The indictment seeks prison terms of up to 28 years for BDP member Aydemir. The proposed sentence is based on three counts of "propaganda for an illegal organization" in three different incidents according to Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMK); on charges of "committing a crime on behalf of an illegal organization without being a member of that organization" as stipulated in Article 314/2 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) and on opposing Law No.2911 on Meetings and Demonstrations.
A date for the first hearing has not been set yet. (AS/VK)