‘Pandemic is remembered when it comes to bringing them to court’

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Having protested "to get their jobs back" in the Yüksel Street in Ankara and arrested on August 22 on the grounds that "they continued protesting intensively despite previous judicial control measures", six people will have their first hearing on Wednesday (December 9).

Ankara 28th Heavy Penal Court has ruled that defendants Mehmet Dersulu, Armağan Özbaş, Acun Karadağ, Nazan Bozkurt, Mahmut Konuk and Alev Şahin, who was arrested over her resistance in Düzce, shall attend the hearings via the Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS).

However, sent to prisons in different provinces of Turkey though the lawsuit was filed in Ankara, they want to make defense in the courtroom.

They were sent to five different prisons

Speaking to bianet about the issue, Fatih Gökçe, one of the attorneys of the protestors, has said that an investigation had already been launched against them in 2018 and they also faced a lawsuit on charge of "organization membership." Gökçe has briefly said:

"This time, in 2020, another investigation was launched on the same charges and they are now arrested as part of this second investigation. They were held in Sincan Prison in Ankara for around 20 days after their arrest. Then, Acun Karadağ and Alev Şahin were transferred to Kayseri, Nazan Bozkurt to Gebze, Mahmut Konuk to Adana, Mehmet Dersulu to Bolu and Armaan Özbaş to Kırıkkale. No justification has been offered for these transfers. The lawsuit filed by Bozkurt against the transfer is still ongoing."

CLICK - They are arrested 'because they protested intensively'

Attorney Gökçe has also said that the court has notified the related prisons that they should ensure prisoners are present to testify via the Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS). "No concrete justification has been presented for this, but the answer given to Mehmet Dersulu's objection indicates that it will be done due to the pandemic," the attorney has added.

"However, they want to make their defense before the judge in line with the principle of immediateness, they think that the SEGBİS system is against the right to a fair trial. Technical problems also arise in the SEGBİS system, there are interruptions. At the hearing on Wednesday, they will only express their requests about this, they will not make defense upon the merits."

Zehra Dersulu, the sister of Mehmet Dersulu, has also spoken to bianet about the issue. Dersulu has said, "There was apparently no pandemic when they were exiled; but when it comes to bringing them to court, the pandemic has suddenly come to their minds."

CLICK - They want their jobs back for 4 years

(AS/SD)