Grup Yorum Band Facing ongoing Persecution

The Grup Yorum ('Group Comment') band is going to perform for the duration of two months for their detained band member Seçkin Aydoğan. He has been detained for 1.5 months and will appear at his first hearing at the Çağlayan (Istanbul) Courthouse on 2 April.

The Grup Yorum band is going to perform for their detained member every Sunday at 6.00 pm in front of their banner featuring "Freedom for Seçkin Aydoğan" at the Galatasaray square in central Istanbul until 2 April. The first concert was given on Sunday (5 February).

Members of the group that was founded in 1985 have constantly beeb exposed to arrests, imprisonment and bans. The band is known for their political song writing.

The Galatasary square was crowded with fans who sang along with their favourite tunes and performed the halay folk dance.

In the beginning of the subsequent press release, the band announced, "Yet one additional new illegal pressure was imposed on Grup Yorum and their listeners".

"University students were arrested in Samsun because they organized a Grup Yorum concert. They were handed down prison sentences of up to 13 years. After that, Education and Science Workers' Union (Eğitim-Sen) member Berivan Doğan was sentenced to ten months in jail on charges of "propaganda for a criminal organization" because lyrics of a Grup Yorum song were found on her computer".

"On 10 May 2011, Tavır magazine owner Bahar Kurt was taken into custody in the course of a raid on the İdil Culture Centre. In the indictment, the album 'Cemo' was alleged of "public incitement to committing crimes within the activities of a terrorist organization" and Grup Yorum members were charged with "the attempt to acquire members for an illegal organization".

"Minster of the Interior İdris Naim Şahin announced that 'terrorism was being supported' with concerts, poems and pictures. Nowadays, having opposing ideas to the policies of the power and their applications is enough to be arrested or taken into custody", it was said in the press release.

Offence: "Chanting slogan of an organization"

Aydoğan was taken into custody during a raid on the Rights Association in Nurtepe on 13 December 2011. He was arrested on 16 December and taken to the Tekirdağ No.1 F Type Prison.

According to the indictment prepared by Prosecutor Hüseyin Kaplan, Aydoğan attended a press release on Taksim square (Istanbul) issued for the release of employees of the Yürüyüş magazine. He is also alleged of "having chanted slogans". Thus, he is being tried on charges of "opposing Law No.2911 on Meetings and Demonstrations", "propaganda for an illegal organization" according to Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMK) and "membership of an illegal organization" as ordered in Article 314 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK).

Grup Yorum invited all their fans and everybody who would like to support them to the hearing before the 15^th High Criminal Court at the Çağlayan Courthouse on 2 April. (AS)