Extradition Hearing Begins For Kani

[kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu]

Reply-To: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu
From: Kurdistan Committee of Canada <kcc at magi.com>
Subject: Extradition Hearing Begins For Kani Yilmaz

Defend The Kurds!
Defend Civil And Human Rights In Britain And Europe!

Press Release - May 6, 1995

The Extradition Hearing Against Kani Yilmaz Has Started

     On May 4, 1995, the Committal Hearing on the extradition of
the Kurdish politician and European representative of the ERNK
commenced at Belmarsh Magistrates Court. Observers at the trial
included representatives and supporters of the Kurdish community in
Britain; a four-person delegation from the Kurdistan Parliament in
Exile; Demetrious Phokion Bonatsos, a member of the Greek
Parliament; Dimitris Paxinos, attorney at law; and German lawyer
Heike Krause. Hundreds of people protested outside Belmarsh prison
and the Home Office throughout the day, as well as in other
European countries, demanding the immediate release of Kani Yilmaz.
     As Mr. Yilmaz was escorted to the court through an underground
tunnel from the adjacent Belmarsh Maximum Security Prison, the
barrister Mr. Mussig, acting for the prosecution, read the charges
on which Mr. Yilmaz is being sought in Germany.
     In this 435-page document the German Federal Public Prosecutor
in Karlsruhe is attempting to establish that Mr. Yilmaz is being
sought on the grounds of suspicion of ringleadership in a terrorist
association within the PKK/ERNK according to Article 129a of the
German Penal Code, of aggravated arson, and other criminal offenses
(nation-wide attacks on Turkish institutions on June 24, 1993 and
November 4, 1993 and violent riots in connection with the Newroz
festival from March 19-22, 1994).
     Nick Blake, representing Mr. Yilmaz, outlined the arguments of
the defence. It is already clear that the so-called evidence
against Kani Yilmaz is vague, unrelated to any specific incidents
and reliant on written statements of informants who are not and who
will not be represented in court as witnesses for cross-
examination.
     Hans-Eberhard Schultz, a German lawyer and expert on political
prosecutions against Kurds in Germany, gave detailed evidence as an
expert witness. Mr. Schultz's main argument is that the extradition
of Mr. Yilmaz is being requested in order to try him on political
grounds. This is confirmed by another expert report by the criminal
law expert Prof. Dr. Ingo Muller:

1. The defendant is not, in fact, accused of arson but only of
ringleadership of a terrorist association. The suspicion of
aggravated and extremely aggravated arson is not supported by any
definite actions of the accused. His role as a "perpetrator" is
fabricated only on the grounds of his membership in the PKK.

2. The situation awaiting the accused in Germany is not the status
of a normal remand prisoner, and not of a prisoner held in remand
on suspicion of murder or arson. The accusation of being a member
of a 'terrorist' association, in combination with his nationality
and the fact that he is a member of the PKK, leads to the
expectation of a very long period of detention with exceptional
isolation and a great number of additional hardships.
     (From: Muller, Expert Report, April 10, 1995)

     The charges against Mr. Yilmaz under the German Anti-Terrorist
Law (Article 129a of the German Penal Code) that he has an
organizing role in what Germany defines as an illegal 'terrorist'
organization has no equivalent in British law. The UK could not
extradite Kani Yilmaz solely on the grounds of his role in the
PKK/ERNK; PKK membership is not an extraditable offence under
British law. The PKK is not illegal in Britain, or elsewhere in the
world, except in Germany and France.
     The defence has also argued that if Mr. Yilmaz is sent to
Germany he would face a prejudiced unjust trial with prolonged
inhuman detention (witness the Dusseldorf PKK show trials) and
perhaps extradition to further terror in Turkey.
     Under bi-lateral agreements such as the European Convention on
Extradition and the Act on the Suppression of Terrorism, which form
the legal basis on which Mr. Yilmaz's extradition is being sought,
it is not permitted to extradite individuals who are prosecuted on
account of the nationality of their political convictions, nor if
they are being sought on criminal charges which serve as a pretext
for political persecution. It is this provision of the Convention
which may prevent Kani Yilmaz's extradition to Germany.
     Against the background of the ban on all political and
cultural Kurdish organizations in Germany in November 1993 and the
growing criminalization of Kurds in Germany, it is unlikely that he
is wanted for alleged criminal offenses in that country.
     Kani Yilmaz, as European representative of the ERNK, in his
quest for a peaceful diplomatic solution to the Kurdish conflict,
had over the last two years been the invited guest of many European
MPs, parliaments, and other political bodies. As 55 of the alleged
charges against him were committed at a date when Yilmaz was, in
fact, in the UK building political consultations with British MPs
and Peers, it does indeed appear that the criminal charges are
being brought against him to circumvent those provisions of the
Convention which forbid his extradition for political reasons. Even
if the court in London decides that extradition is not permissible,
it is still a matter for the British government to comply with the
extradition order or to refuse it for reasons of foreign policy.
Kani Yilmaz's case could go to appeal, or even as far as the Lords
if a point of law emerges.
     At a meeting of Members of Parliament, Kurdish MPs of the
Kurdistan Parliament in Exile, Greek MPs, lawyers, journalists, and
friends of the Kurds, chaired by John Austin-Walker MP, held on May
3 in Parliament, a statement of protest demanded the release of
Kani Yilmaz and stated: "We uphold the right of Kurds in exile to
speak and act in favour of constitutional changes in Turkey.
Britain has always been a haven for leaders of liberation
movements, from Garibaldi and Kossuth onwards. The extradition of
Mr. Yilmaz would be a betrayal of our historic traditions of
freedom of expression."
     Asked how the extradition can be prevented, the German lawyer
Hans-Eberhard Schultz said: "Give us your support for his release
and for a refusal of his extradition. Kani Yilmaz must have the
opportunity to go on working for a political solution to the
Kurdish conflict as a free man and representative of the ERNK in
Europe. The solution is only possible with the inclusion of the
PKK...The extradition of Kani Yilmaz would be another heavy blow
against efforts a political solution as the terror judgements
against the Kurdish MPs, Leyla Zana and others, by the State
Security Court in Ankara have shown. At this moment the key to the
end to this bloody war lies in Western Europe."

The hearing was adjourned until May 11, 1995.

For more information:

Tel: +44-171-250-1315 or 586-5892
Fax: +44-171-250-1317