Turkey: Trial against the Kurtulus magazine in Istanbul

[ozgurluk at xs4all.nl]

AN APPEAL TO MONITOR THE TRIAL AGAINST THE KURTULUS MAGAZINE IN
ISTANBUL

To the INTERNATIONAL PRESS and the PUBLIC

We appeal to the international public, especially the lawyers and
journalists who see themselves as democrats, to join an international
delegation to monitor the trial against the weekly magazine
Kurtulus. We would like to present you this detailed statement of the
"People's Lawyers Office", HALKIN HUKUK BUEROSU.

"KURTULUS for the people" is a socialist weekly. During the time it
has been published till now, again and again editions of the paper
were confiscated by the State Security Court in Istanbul. According to
the figures of the Press Council, 2 co-workers are imprisoned at the
time, according to Reporters without Borders 17 are in jail at
present. Last January, the paper's representative in Adana, Mehmet
Topaloglu was murdered in the house of his uncle, two years ago the 17
year old Irfan Agdas was murdered when he distributed the paper in
Alibeykoey/Istanbul. Both were murdered by the police. The
correspondents of the weekly have been arrested and detained countless
times. The owners and chief editors have been sentenced to dozens of
years imprisonment and billions in fines. 

On February 17, 1998, the central offices of the paper in Cagaloglu
were searched on orders of the 1. State Security Court. Two reasons
were given.

1. Supposedly there were persons inside the building against whom
warrants had been issued by the State Security Court. 2. The many
press organs inside the office rooms were to be confiscated. 

On that day, a large number of plainclothes policemen, uniformed
police and Special Units were gathered in front of the building.
Without referring to the court order, they tried to break in through
the entrance of the paper's office. The co-workers of the paper asked
for the reason why the door was broken open, and they were answered by
insults and threats. Only after the co-workers in the editorial
offices tried to protect themselves by building barricades, the
policemen declared they had to "carry out a search". The co-workers of
the paper pointed to their rights: "If you are in the possession of a
search warrant, and if the state prosecutor and our lawyers are
present, then you can carry out a search." The police, unable to break
through the door, decided to wait for the lawyers. After they arrived,
the following was agreed: "Only 4 police officers are to enter to
check the identity papers. A proper search, without damaging or
messing up the inventory in any way, is to be carried out in mutual
agreement." After this was agreed, the persons inside the offices
opened the door. However, dozens of policemen stormed into the
editorial offices, identity checks were carried out and 7 persons were
arrested after being beaten, pushed down the stairs and pulled by
their hair. One co-worker of the paper, Zehra Kurtay, fell into a coma
as a result of this severe attack. After this, the remaining people
pushed the policemen out of the offices, barricades were set up again
behind a door, and then they began to wait. The Special Operation Unit
was then strengthened  to more than 500 officers. To overpower the
persons inside the rooms, they carried gas grenades. The deputy chief
of police, and chief of the Security Department, Hueseyin Arpaci,
talked with the co-workers inside the building and stated: "I promise
you'll be released immediately after your identity has been checked in
the Security Department, nobody will be handed over to the Political
Department. This is a promise by Hueseyin Arpaci." Later, 32 persons in
total, including some people who came to the building to express their
solidarity, were brought to the Security Department. The next day, 24
of these persons were handed over to the Political Department. 

JUDICIAL STEPS AND REQUESTS:

Claiming there was "a suspicion of an organization", the state
prosecutor of the State Security Court in Istanbul gave the permission
to keep 24 arrested people in police custody for 4 days. The 8 persons
who had been arrested in front of the building on February 18, were
brought to court for carrying out a "unlawfull action". They were
released after they had been heard by the state prosecutor. On
February 20, 1998, the lawyers of the arrested journalists appealed
against the methods of arrest and against the 4 days police custody.
On February 21, 1998, the state prosecutor of the State Security Court
asked for an extensions of police custody. The judges of the State
Security Court, after considering both motions, decided to extend
police custody for 2 days, arguing that "because of the number of
accused, the identification and the confrontation protocols have not
been finished yet". After the trial was opened, it became clear that
not a single confrontation protocol was in the files. It was clear
from the first moment that a confrontation had not been necessary
regarding the co-workers of the paper because they were all known to
the police. On February 23, 1998, 15 of the 24 people who had been
brought to court were released after being heard by the state
prosecutor. Custody in jail was requested for 9 people. The requests
of the assigned lawyers of the "Baro CMUK Service" to see the files,
the speak to the detained and the participate during the interrogation
by the state prosecutor were all rejected. 

When the 9 persons were interrogated by the judge, the presence of the
lawyers was allowed. The request to "remove the officers from the
court who have carried out the arrests and who participated in the
interrogation in the police stations, using torture", was rejected by
the judge, arguing that the "policemen are present for the security of
the accused, respectively to prevent their escape, therefore the
request is not in order." After this kind of proceedings, the
co-workers of the paper Hamdi Kaysi, Banu Guedenoglu, Zehra Kurtay and
Ecevit Uluvar, the owner of the magazine TAVIR who was in the Kurtulus
office at the time - Aynur Cihan -, and Cem Kilic, arrested in front
of Bayrampasa Prison, were officially detained and sent to Umraniye
Prison. Among the detained is also the Kurtulus co-worker Senguel
Akkurt against whom a detention order existed from the State Security
Court in Malatya. The appeal against the detention order of February
24 was rejected by the 4. State Security Court. As a result of the
investigations, the trial against the 9 persons who had been shown to
the judge, as well as against the later detained and released again
owner and chief editor of the paper, was opened on March 10, 1998. The
indictment is "supporting the organization DHKP/C". According to the
indictment, a computer which had been confiscated in the office was
considered to be a "organization computer". As a reason for opening a
trial because of support for an organization, it was stated that
"coded documents of the DHKP/C and the `Draft of a People's
Constitution'" had been found. The mentioned `Draft of a People's
Constitution', published by the Platform for Rights and Freedom, and
confiscated on orders of the State Security Court, is a proposal for a
new constitution. The co-workers of the paper refused all statements
to the police. This was interpreted in the interrogation protocol as
follows: "The persons refused statements, acting in an organized
manner, to cover their own actions and activities and to protect the
other militants of the organization with whom they are in contact from
being exposed."

The first trial session against the co-workers of the paper, arrested
on February 17, 1998, will take place on May 15, 1998 at 10.40 a.m.
before the 6. State Security Court in Istanbul. 

People's Law Office

The lawyers of the People's Law Office not only expect long prison
terms for the accused, although there is no evidence. Because the
Kurtulus is a opposition paper, and therefore subject to severe
oppression by the state, the lawyers think there is a possibility that
they will try to ban the paper altogether. To prevent a justice of
political arbitrariness, it's necessary that foreign watchers monitor
the trial. We ask for your participation in a delegation, organized
for this purpose by the Information and Prison Watch International. In
case you have any questions, please address Sandra Bakutz at the
address below. 

There's the possibility to ask for a brochure with background
information about the Kurtulus. We'll send you this brochure in
exchange for 1,50 DM postage costs. 

For further information, please contact:

Information Centre for Free Peoples
Kalkarer Str. 2
50733 Cologne
Germany
Tel 0049 221 760 7656
Fax 0049 221 760 2887 
e-mail: informationzentrum at kurtulus.com

For more information about the Kurtulus, see
http://www.ozgurluk.org/kurtulus

-- 
Press Agency Ozgurluk
For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan!
Website: http://www.ozgurluk.org                          
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