Turkey: Turkish court gives prison sentences to pro-Kurdish HDP’s Demirtaş and Önder

September 7, 2018

The leading figures of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), former co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş, and former HDP deputy Sırrı Süreyya Önder were sentenced to prison on Friday by a court in İstanbul, according to a report by the Cumhuriyet daily.

Participating in the hearing via the SEGBİS audiovisual system, Demirtaş requested the hearing be adjourned to allow him additional time to prepare a defense, but the court rejected his request and handed down the sentence.

Demirtaş was sentenced to four years, eight months in prison while Önder was sentenced to three years, six months at the same hearing, for speeches at a Kurdish new year celebration (Newroz) during the peace process in 2013.

Demirtaş condemned the panel of judges for “not being independent,” saying the court had acted with bias due to his and Önder’s “political views.”

Demirtaş also said during the hearing: “There are two reasons why I attended today’s hearing via SEGBİS. The first reason is that I have some trouble traveling because of a health problem. The second is that you gave me the choice of participating in person or via SEGBİS in the statement you issued. It is illegal to be judged via SEGBIS, but today is my choice.”

…

https://stockholmcf.org/turkish-court-gives-prison-sentences-to-pro-kurdish-hdps-demirtas-and-onder/

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45450622

http://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/07092018

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/365350-kurdish-leader-jailed-for-four-years-over-terror-propaganda

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selahattin_Demirta%C5%9F

https://www.demokrathaber.org/siyaset/selahattin-demirtas-tan-hapis-cezasina-iliskin-aciklama-h107033.html (TURKCE)

http://www.rfi.fr/emission/20180908-aurore-selahattin-demirtas-turquie-prison-emmanuelle-colas (FRANCAIS)

http://www.lepoint.fr/culture/selahattin-demirtas-l-opposant-turc-devenu-ecrivain-en-prison-07-09-2018-2249512_3.php (FRANCAIS)

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selahattin_Demirta%C5%9F (FRANCAIS)

https://www.dw.com/de/kurdenpolitiker-selahattin-demirtas-erneut-verurteilt/a-45403711  (DEUTSCH)

https://jconline.ne10.uol.com.br/canal/mundo/internacional/noticia/2018/09/07/lider-curdo-na-turquia-e-condenado-a-4-anos-de-prisao-353934.php (PORTUGUES)

#DayoftheEndangeredLawyer

 

Turkey: Detained lawyers to attend hearings scheduled between 10 and 14 September

September 7, 2018

On 5 September 2018, Istanbul’s 37th High Criminal Court ruled to allow all detained lawyers from the People’s Law Office to attend their hearings in person between 10 and 14 September 2018. The Court’s ruling followed the detained lawyers’ starting of a hunger strike on 3 September in protest against the Court’s initial decision to hear the majority of the lawyers through video call.

Between September and December 2017, 17 human rights lawyers from the People’s Law Office were arrested following orders from the Istanbul Criminal Peace Judge. 17 of the 20 lawyers facing charges remain in pre-trial detention in seven different prisons, far from their families and their places of residence. 17 lawyers were accused of transmitting instructions from the DHKP-C’s executive team to its members, while three of them were charged with “being managers of an armed terrorist organisation”. The DHKP-C (the revolutionary people’s liberation party) is considered as a terrorist organisation in Turkey.

After the defenders had spent up to a year in detention, Istanbul’s 37th High Criminal Court had stated that it would hear the majority of the detained lawyers through video call. Only Yaprak Türkmen and Selçuk Kozağaçlı, who have been detained in İstanbul Silivri Prison since their arrest, were to be personally brought to the courtroom for the hearings. The detained lawyers refused to participate in the hearings through video call, and appealed the Court’s decision. However, the Court refused their appeal to be heard in person on such grounds as travel costs, the length of the journeys and security concerns during travel from different prisons to the courtroom. On 3 September 2018, detained lawyers of People’s Law Office began a hunger strike in protest against the Court’s decision, and two days after, on 5 September, the Court ruled to hear all the detained lawyers personally during the hearings. The hearings are due to begin at 10 a.m. on 10 September 2018 at Bakırköy Courthouse, and are scheduled to conclude on 14 September.

…

https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/14-lawyers-arrested-and-charged

https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/selcuk-kozagacli-detained

https://www.mynet.com/selcuk-kozagacli-ve-16-avukat-aclik-grevine-basliyor-110104369022 (TURKCE)

http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/koseyazisi/1072549/Zordur_sosyalisti_yargilamak.html (TURKCE)

https://t24.com.tr/haber/tutuklu-halkin-hukuk-burosu-ve-chd-avukatlarina-segbis-dayatmasi-son-buldu,693900 (TURKCE)

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/360915/uluslararasi-hukuk-konferansinda-ohal-ve-yargi-tartisildi (TURKCE)

Nihayet…
Selçuk ve diğer tutuklu meslektaşlarımız duruşmaya getirilecekler…

Bu haksız ve hukuksuz karardan dönülmüş olması çok kıymetlidir,her anlamda…

10-14 Eylül Bakırköy Adliyesi Büyük Duruşma Salonunda meslektaşlarımızın yanındayız…@S_Kozagacli @halkinhukuk pic.twitter.com/pRymJZS2hX

— AV.ÇİĞDEM KOÇ (@cigdemkc) September 5, 2018

#SelçukKozağaçlı

#SegbisYargılamaDeğildir

#SavunmayaÖzgürlük

#DayoftheEndangeredLawyer

Tanzania: What Lissu Misses One Year After ‘Assassination’ Attempt

September 7, 2018

Recuperating Singida East MP (Chadema) Tundu Lissu said yesterday that he was homesick as he marks one year since surviving an “assassination” attempt in Dodoma.

Mr Lissu, who doubles as the opposition’s chief whip, was sprayed with 32 bullets out which 16 hit him when returning home after a parliamentary session.

Shortly after the attack, the firebrand politician was rushed to the Dodoma Referral Hospital before being airlifted to Nairobi in Kenya for further treatment.

After multiple surgical operations in Nairobi, Mr Lissu, who was critical of several government decisions, was flown to Belgium where he is still receiving treatment.

The legislator, who has so far undergone 21 surgeries, spoke exclusively to The Citizen on a wide range of issues, but stressed his eagerness to come back home and continue with political activities.

The Citizen: Tell us one thing that you feel about Tanzania and Tanzanians in general.

Lissu: All I can say is that I extremely miss Tanzania and I miss all Tanzanians.

…

https://allafrica.com/stories/201809070288.html

http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/Hope-for-Lissu-s–arrival-this-year-dashed/1840340-4735030-pgfe9o/index.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tundu_Lissu

https://www.bbc.com/swahili/habari-45334320 (SWAHILI)

https://www.dw.com/sw/lissu-afunguka-na-kumtahadharisha-magufuli/av-45381727 (SWAHILI)

http://www.mwananchi.co.tz/habari/Wapinzani-wamkumbuka-Tundu-Lissu-bungeni/1597578-4748354-td6tj2z/index.html (SWAHILI)