New accusation to imprisoned Kurdish women politicians: 'Producing alcohol in prison'

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A lawsuit has been filed against women politicians Ayla Akat Ata, Ayşe Yağcı, Dilek Yağlı, Meryem Adıbelli, and Pervin Oduncu, who are currently detained in the Kobanî trial, on charges of "smuggling prohibited items into a penal institution or prison." The indictment, prepared by the Ankara West Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, requesting imprisonment for the women, was accepted by the Ankara West 11th Criminal Court of First Instance.

The indictment states, "As a result of the search carried out on February 22, 2023, in dormitory F-4, a jar filled with lemon pieces was found in cabin number 3. According to the expert report, the liquid substance contained ethyl alcohol, and therefore, the suspects listed above, in a joint action and intent, produced a substance containing alcohol (fermenting fruits and other substances) and kept and used this substance in the penal institution, thus committing the act of smuggling prohibited items into the penal institution."

"They use it to dissolve lime"

The indictment states that the women politicians claimed they used the seized mixture for hygiene purposes, especially to dissolve lime in teapots.

The expert report dated June 2, 2023 claims that the mixture found in the women's dormitory "contained ethyl alcohol."

No percentage of "ethyl alcohol" in the forensic report

However, the Ankara Criminal Police Laboratory states in its report that 350 milliliters of yellow-colored liquid substance reached them on May 16 and that they conducted an analysis between May 23 and June 2. While the report alleges that the mixture contains "ethyl alcohol," it does not provide any information about the percentage of alcohol content.

Hakan Bozyurt, one of the lawyers for the Kobanî trial, and Dilek Yağlı, speaking to bianet, said, "They had put aside lemons given by the administration or purchased from the canteen to use them a few days later, but they were confiscated during the search. They used it to clean the lime inside the teapot."

"Technically, the prison administration produced alcohol"

Drawing attention to the approximately four-month period between the "seizure" of the mixture and the examination dates, Lawyer Bozyurt said, "The mixture may have fermented due to being left in an airless environment for a long time after being seized, but it is impossible for alcohol to be present at the time they seized it. In fact, technically, the prison administration produced alcohol by leaving the lemons they confiscated to sit."

Bozyurt also reminded that frequent searches are conducted in the prison and cases are opened for absurd reasons. He mentioned that a similar case has now been filed against women politicians.

A sentence of 1 to 3 years in prison

In the indictment, which requests imprisonment for the politicians for 1 to 3 years, "deprivation of certain rights" is also demanded.

The first hearing of the trial will be held on Thursday, September 7th, at 11:30 am.

(NT/PE)