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In 2010, 151 Kurdish politicians, academics, journalists, mayors and activists were charged with “violating the unity of the state” and “abetting terrorism” over a 7,500-page indictment that accused the defendants to be members of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK).
Mehmet Emin Aktar was a defence lawyer in the KCK trial and he is now defending the Kurdish politicians again in the Kobani trial, the first hearing of which was seen in Ankara on Monday.
”The head of the court completely ignored the lawyers. Whatever he was told by those controlling him, he acted accordingly. The court violated the ”right to defense” by rejecting all requests of the defence lawyers, ” Aktar told MA.
Underlining that “none” of the demands of the lawyers were evaluated by the court board, Aktar said, “This was very strange. I have never experienced such a thing in my professional life. It was out of line with all the rules of court procedure.”
Aktar noted that the Kobani trial has so many similarities with the KCK trial, but also critical differences. “At least legal procedures were followed in the KCK trial, but in the Kobani trial these procedures are being completely ignored, this is one difference I can address,” he said. “But in terms of the political motivations and methods, the Kobani trial is the same as the KCK trial.”
The Kobani trial will be another historical case, the truths of which will be clearly seen in the future according to Aktar. “As defence lawyers, we want to make an effort to reveal the truth. The perpetrators of the killed people in Kobani protests have not been brought to justice yet. In this respect, the Kobani trial will turn into a process of revealing the real perpetrators of all those killed during the protests,” he said.
