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240 years prison sentence asked for seven
Kurdish children in Turkey
15.6.2012 |
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The children are accused of making propaganda for an
illegal organization. Photo: ANF. •
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June 15, 2012
MERSIN, — 240 years prison sentence is
asked for seven Kurdish children in Mersin who are
accused of “membership of an illegal organization”
and “making propaganda for an illegal organization”
for propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers'
Party PKK. Facebook sharings, mobese (mobile
electronic system integration) footages, secret
witness statements and joining the May Day are the
evidences the prosecutor put forward as accusation
against the minors, ANF news agency reported.
Hardly a day passes without detention and arrest of
Kurdish children in Mersin as the ruling AKP
government holds the record of political arrests
against children for crimes in connection with
terrorism. Including Pozantı victim children who
have been released recently from the Sincan Prison
in Ankara, many children are subjected to severe
punishments on the grounds of committing a crime
linked to a terror organization.
The most recent prosecution targeted seven children
who were taken into custody in May, accused of
“opposing the law on meetings and demonstrations”,
“holding explosive substances”, “violation of
freedom of labour” and “damaging public property”.
Public Prosecutor Ünsal Demirci asked a total of 240
years prison sentence and continuation of detention
for seven children who have been tried without any
concrete evidences.
The accusation by Public Prosecutor Ünsal Demirci
was accepted by Mersin 2nd Court for Juveniles which
also refused the release demand for children,www.ekurd.net
ruling the first trial of the case to be held on 8
July.
Human Rights Association (IHD) Central Executive
Board member lawyer Eyüp Sabri Öncel reacted against
the severe sentence asked for children and
underlined that accused children should be tried
without arrest in accordance with the UN Convention
on the Rights of the Child.
The PKK has several times proposed peaceful solutions regarding Kurdish problem,
Turkey has always refused saying that it will not negotiate with “terrorists”.
Since it was established in 1984, the PKK has been
fighting the Turkish state, which still denies the
constitutional existence of Kurds, to establish a
Kurdish state in the south east of the country, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000
lives.
But now its aim is the creation an autonomous
Kurdish region
and more cultural rights for ethnic Kurds who
constitute the greatest minority in Turkey,
numbering more than 20 million. A large Turkey's
Kurdish community openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK rebels.
PKK's demands included releasing PKK detainees,
lifting the ban on education in Kurdish, paving the
way for an autonomous democrat Kurdish system within
Turkey, reducing pressure on the detained PKK leader
Abdullah Öcalan, stopping military action against
the Kurdish party and recomposing the Turkish
constitution.
Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish population
as a distinct minority. It has allowed some cultural
rights such as limited broadcasts in the Kurdish
language and private Kurdish language courses with
the prodding of the European Union, but Kurdish
politicians say the measures fall short of their
expectations.
The PKK is considered ass 'terrorist' organization by
Ankara and U.S. The PKK continues to be on the
blacklist list in EU despite court ruling which
overturned a decision
to place the Kurdish rebel group PKK and its
political wing on the European Union's terror list.
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