Peace Marchers Released

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23 out of 24 persons arrested due to their intention to march in Sur district of Diyarbakır province on December 31 against curfews, including members of the “Marching Towards Peace” and Baran Ok, camera operator of Kürdsat, have been released by the court.

Departing from five persons from the “Marching Towards Peace Initiative” had been taken into custody, among thousand others who had left Bodrum on December 27, 2015 to stop by Muğla, Ankara, Adana and Urfa and to arrive at Diyarbakır on December 31 to march in its Sur district.

Emin Aktar: They should have been let go by the police station

Then Diyarbakır Bar Association President, Attorney Emin Aktar, advocating for the 24 persons who have been sent to the court on duty for arrest with claims of “carrying out activities on behalf of the terrorist organization as a non-member” and “opposing to the Demonstration and March Law No. 2911” has evaluated the decision for Bianet.

Aktar has noted, “As a matter of fact, this case file should not have come here and these persons should have been let go by the police station as there is no illegality here. The prosecutor has sent everybody before the judge before taking their testimony which is very uncommon. I have also told the judge that ‘arresting these persons means saying nobody should come here. Those who are distant to us can also not sense what is happening here and this way the said segregation is experienced. If you arrest these persons, you will serve the segregation’. Consequently the judge decided that arresting would be a peril and released the clients”.

“Arresting serves for segregation”

During the trial, also the incidents in İskender Paşa neighbourhood of Sur district which had been under curfew for 32 days, where a person has lost his/her life and two others have been injured due to a rocket projectile hit a house, have been brought to the agenda of the court. Stating that a   colleague of his had asked the judge, ‘is there anybody who would not be disturbed by the incidents conscientiously? Let them write, march and express. You can’t arrest those who do these things’, Attorney Emin Aktar has also made a statement concerning the bomb claimed to be thrown at the police during the demonstration. Aktar has noted “We do not even know whether there is an explosion. Should there not also be injured ones among the protesters if it indeed was a hand made bomb as claimed? I don’t think there is a bomb. They are trying to divide the society. They are calling on to stay away from here but I assume that is exactly the opposite of what they are aiming at. All these wrongfulness can trigger also other people coming, which I hope. (ÖAÇ/HK/DG)

* Photograph: Evrim Kurdoğlu