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Deaf and dumb Kurd sentenced to 8 years in
Turkish prison for PKK propaganda
23.6.2012 |
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Mehmet Tahir Ilhan, a deaf, illiterate and dumb
Kurdish man to spend 8 years in prison of supporting
"terror" in Turkey •
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Deaf, illiterate and dumb
Kurdish man to spend 8 years in prison of supporting "terror" in Turkey
June 23, 2012
ADANA, Turkey,— Specially authorized
Adana 8th High Criminal Court sentenced a deaf and
dumb Kurdish citizen to 8 years and 4 months in
prison for making propaganda for the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the Kurdish armed
movement fighting against the state for 30 years,
ANF news agency reported.
A specially authorized court in Adana sentenced
Mehmet Tahir Ilhan, aged 37 and father of six
children, to eight years and four months in prison
for "committing crimes in the name of the PKK" and
"making propaganda of the organization” and
“resisting to security officers”, while another
accused, Ahmet K., was sentenced to 11 years and 11
months in prison for the same reasons. The
prosecutor had earlier demanded 25 years in prison
for the father of six children.
The specially authorized courts (ÖYM) are the
enforcement mechanisms that have replaced the State
Security Courts (DGM) which were removed in 2004.
The two men are accused of participating in a
violent demonstration, organized in April 2011 in
Mersin, an eastern Mediterranean city with a large
Kurdish population.
Prosecutors in Mersin and neighboring city Adana
display an incredible hostility towards young people
and Kurdish children, demanding sentences of up to
several decades,www.ekurd.net
without any concrete proofs.
The deaf and dumb Kurdish citizen has denied the
charges against him and asked his release,
underlining that there is nobody to look after his
family.
Defense lawyer Tugay Bek said his client is
illiterate, in addition to his deaf and dumb state
from birth. "The charges are contrary to logic and
reason, because the situation of the accused does
not enable him to have any physical condition to
make propaganda for the organization.", the lawyer
said.
On June 14, the prosecution’s office in Mersin asked
a total of 240 years prison sentence for seven
children who were arrested in early May on charges
of "being members of an illegal organization (PKK)"
and "making propaganda" in favor of this
organization. The charge of the prosecution was
grounded solely on secret evidences, images of
surveillance cameras, Facebook shares and
participation in a demonstration on 1 May.
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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