studentstruggle in Turkey

[ozgurluk at xs4all.nl]

TDN: 1998-03-19

Court of Appeals reverses student protest verdict

  * A number of people were injured and scores detained during clashes
 in Ankara between riot police and student demonstrators who were
 protesting in support of the eight students whose court verdicts
 were reversed by the Court of Appeals

  _________________________________________________________________

Ankara - Turkish Daily News

The Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed the verdict of a lower
court which had sentenced eight university students to up to an
18-year prison sentence for displaying placards at a parliamentary
meeting. The court also upheld the acquittal of other seven students.

The Appeals Court has ruled that the previous verdict suffered from a
lack of investigation, ordering a deeper investigation into the case.
Fifteen students displayed placards at a parliamentary meeting two
years ago to protest increased school tuition.

A lower court in Ankara had sentenced eight of them to various
punishments ranging from three to 18 years. The other seven were
acquitted.

Prosecutors claimed during the trial that the leftist Revolutionary
Youth organization, of which the students were members, was a
successor to the outlawed People's Salvation Party-Front (DHKP-C).
Demirel Tavil, the Court of Appeals judge, said on Wednesday that it
was not clear whether Revolutionary Youth was actually an illegal
group. If the new investigation concludes that it is not, the court
might overturn the guilty verdict.

Meanwhile, the reversal of the court verdict against the eight
protesters gave hope to the youngsters involved in the famous Manisa
case and their lawyers. Last week, a court decided to acquit 10
policemen who were claimed to have tortured 14 students in the western
Anatolian city of Manisa. Their lawyers said they would appeal.

  Riots in Ankara

A number of people were injured and scores detained during clashes in
Ankara on Wednesday between riot police and student demonstrators who
were protesting in support of the eight students whose court verdicts
were reversed by the Court of Appeals.

Students from various universities gathered in downtown Ankara refused
the police order to disperse. They later began throwing stones at the
riot police, who did not use batons but who protected themselves with
shields.

Earlier in the day, the police detained 77 students who had come to
Ankara from various cities to support the students. They were taken
into custody at Ankara's main train station upon their arrival. The
authorities said the students would be freed after their identities
were determined.

  The Taksim battle

Also in Istanbul, students attacked the police Wednesday in an attempt
to set their colleagues free following a decision of the Supreme Court
of Appeals to not uphold a lower court's verdict which had been handed
down to students who had unfurled an illegal banner in Parliament.

The leftist students first gathered in the morning in Beyazit Square
and gave a statement to the press. The group, which opened a placard
on which was written, "Our future can never be sentenced," then began
walking to Taksim Square, gaining support from students at other
universities.

After walking for a time towards Taksim shouting slogans, the group
got on buses which took them to their destination. Since the police
had brought up heavy reinforcements in the square, the students had to
gather in the side streets from which they attacked police with the
sticks and stones they had been carrying. The battle was joined
between the protesting students and the police, with its rapid
deployment force and the special team composed of male and female
robocops. After nearly half an hour of scuffling, 40 students were
taken into custody.

After the disturbance in Taksim Square, the group spread out into
Gumussuyu, Galatasaray and Dolmabahce, and continued to protest there
with the police following. The demonstrators stoned the police kiosk
in front of the Greek Consulate General in Galatasaray and wanted to
assault the two policemen on duty there, who were only saved by taking
refuge inside the consulate building.
  _________________________________________________________________

  Manisa prosecutor appeals acquittal in torture case

  _________________________________________________________________

Ankara - Turkish Daily News

The Manisa Criminal Court Prosecutor has appealed the acquittal on
March 11 of ten policemen who had been tried on charges of torturing
14 students while they were in police custody.

Prosecutor Necmettin Karabacakoglu filed an appeal of the verdict on
March 18. Sema Aktas, an attorney representing one of the students,
said that the prosecutor had acted before they had a chance to do so.
"We were surprised by the prosecutor's decision," Aktas said.

Manisa Bar Chairman Teoman Ergul issued a statement saying that the
case was not finalized yet, since the verdict was being appealed. "It
is very difficult to find enough evidence in ten days [until the next
session] of torture that was applied in dark detention rooms where
nobody [except the policemen and people in detention] sets foot, in
order to convict them. However, since the acquittal verdict has been
appealed by the prosecutor, we still have hope. Evidence which is not
sufficient for a criminal court can be enough for compensation cases.
International institutions may look at this case and find Turkey
guilty of allowing people who violated human rights to be acquitted
because there is insufficient evidence. That doesn't make them
innocent in the court of public opinion."

The defendants, who were tried for torturing the 14 young people while
they were being held in detention, were acquitted on the grounds of
insufficient evidence. When the verdict was rendered on March 11, the
judge said, "Since definitive and convincing evidence for the torture
accusations could not be found, the defendants are acquitted."

The acquittal triggered outrage from the youths' families and from
representatives of various nongovernmental organizations.

  History of the case

The anti-terrorism unit of the Manisa police department took 14 youths
into custody on Dec. 26, 1995. Twelve of them were tried on Jan. 5,
1996 on charges that they were members of illegal leftist
organizations. The defendants were sentenced to a total of 76 years in
prison. This decision was overturned by the Court of Appeals on Jan.
28, 1998.

Meanwhile, on Jan. 24, 1996, the Manisa criminal court for serious
crimes began to hear the case charging the ten policemenwith torture.
The prosecutor had demanded that the accused be tried for
mistreatment, but not for torture.


-- 
Press Agency Ozgurluk
For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan!
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