Five students arrested for ‘membership in armed organization’

Five students in Eskişehir were arrested on charges of being members of an armed organization. The reason for the charge was their membership in pro-Kurdish youth groups. 

The students, Ezgi Karagöz, Abdullah Arslan, Genco Aykut, Muhammed Topalan, and Rezan Aras, were taken to the Eskişehir Courthouse after being detained on Friday and were later referred to court with a "request for arrest" following their prosecutor-led questioning. 

The arrests come amid house raids conducted in various cities, resulting in at least 15 detentions. 

Şahap Arpacı, the lawyer for Karagöz, told bianet that is a lack of evidence supporting the "membership in an armed organization" charge in the investigation file. He highlighted the significant influence of statements made by an informant, B.A., who confessed in a separate investigation in Izmir, on the arrest decision. 

The court's decision to arrest the students took into consideration factors such as the "nature and characteristics of the crime attributed to the suspects, the statements of the witness regarding the connection of the Free Student Initiative and the Democratic Student Council with the PKK, law enforcement records, digital recordings, materials found in searches at the residences of some suspects, and the current state of evidence." 

Expressing disagreement with the legal validity of the decision, lawyer Şahap Arpacı announced their intention to appeal the detention. Arpacı underlined the potential negative impact of the arrest on the future of the students. (BA/VK)