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TURKISH ACADEMIC, PROMINENT PUBLISHER ARRESTED IN KCK PROBE
Hurriyet, Turkey
Nov 1 2011
An Istanbul court arrested yesterday 44 suspects in connection with
the ongoing trials over the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK),
including prominent publisher Ragıp Zarakolu and Buşra Ersanlı,
a political science professor.
"It will be a mass trial with a 150 people in total. We undoubtedly
will have to wait for a year before the trial," said lawyer Ozcan
Kılıc, who is representing Ersanlı and Zarakolu.
Zarakolu was arrested despite the lack of any documents or information
that would indicate that he was involved in a crime, Kılıc said.
Zarakolu is the head of the Turkish Publishers' Union's Committee
for the Freedom of Publishing, as well as the recipient of numerous
prestigious awards pertaining to freedom of expression.
"Ragıp gave a speech at the academy of the BDP [Peace and Democracy
Party], which was a legal political party in 2010. This was a meeting
open to the public and attended by 150 people in Istanbul. He stands
accused of being a member of the KCK due to the speech he gave at
this meeting. There are no sound recordings anywhere; they point to
a news piece that appeared in the Dicle news agency," Kılıc said.
Ersanlı was also arrested because she gave lectures at the BDP Academy,
he added.
"Figures who dedicated their lives to the defense of human rights like
Zarakolu and Ersanlı are getting arrested and imprisoned through the
use of the Kurdish issue as a pretext. We're at a point where words
fail," Kılıc said.
Ersanlı, a political science professor at Istanbul's Marmara
University, is also a member of the BDP Assembly and has a seat on
the party's charter preparation commission, which is working toward
drafting a new constitution. The BDP is primarily focused on the
Kurdish issue.
A total of 50 people were detained over the weekend within the scope
of the investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's
Office into the KCK. Some 47 of the suspects were then transferred
to court, while three suspects were subsequently released by the
prosecutor's office.
Following a hearing that began at around 11 p.m. on Oct. 31, the
court ordered the 44 suspects to be jailed pending trial; another
three suspects were also released.
The KCK is accused of being the urban wing of the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK), which is itself listed as a terrorist
organization by Turkey and much of the international community.
Hurriyet, Turkey
Nov 1 2011
An Istanbul court arrested yesterday 44 suspects in connection with
the ongoing trials over the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK),
including prominent publisher Ragıp Zarakolu and Buşra Ersanlı,
a political science professor.
"It will be a mass trial with a 150 people in total. We undoubtedly
will have to wait for a year before the trial," said lawyer Ozcan
Kılıc, who is representing Ersanlı and Zarakolu.
Zarakolu was arrested despite the lack of any documents or information
that would indicate that he was involved in a crime, Kılıc said.
Zarakolu is the head of the Turkish Publishers' Union's Committee
for the Freedom of Publishing, as well as the recipient of numerous
prestigious awards pertaining to freedom of expression.
"Ragıp gave a speech at the academy of the BDP [Peace and Democracy
Party], which was a legal political party in 2010. This was a meeting
open to the public and attended by 150 people in Istanbul. He stands
accused of being a member of the KCK due to the speech he gave at
this meeting. There are no sound recordings anywhere; they point to
a news piece that appeared in the Dicle news agency," Kılıc said.
Ersanlı was also arrested because she gave lectures at the BDP Academy,
he added.
"Figures who dedicated their lives to the defense of human rights like
Zarakolu and Ersanlı are getting arrested and imprisoned through the
use of the Kurdish issue as a pretext. We're at a point where words
fail," Kılıc said.
Ersanlı, a political science professor at Istanbul's Marmara
University, is also a member of the BDP Assembly and has a seat on
the party's charter preparation commission, which is working toward
drafting a new constitution. The BDP is primarily focused on the
Kurdish issue.
A total of 50 people were detained over the weekend within the scope
of the investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's
Office into the KCK. Some 47 of the suspects were then transferred
to court, while three suspects were subsequently released by the
prosecutor's office.
Following a hearing that began at around 11 p.m. on Oct. 31, the
court ordered the 44 suspects to be jailed pending trial; another
three suspects were also released.
The KCK is accused of being the urban wing of the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK), which is itself listed as a terrorist
organization by Turkey and much of the international community.