| Paris,
Ankara - August 18, 2003 - The re-trial of the four
former Kurdish parliamentarians of the Democracy People’s
Party (DEP), Leyla Zana, Hadip Dicle, Selim Sadak and Orhan
Dogan continued before the Ankara State Security Court N°1
(DGM) on Friday 15 August 2003 while the deputies appeared for
the sixth time this year.
The International Federation for Human Rights
(FIDH), that observed the 15 August hearing and has closely
monitored the previous ones before the Ankara State Security
Courts (SCC) remains gravely concerned after this latest hearing
by the continuing disregards of the principle of independence
and impartiality of the court. The trial of the four Kurdish
deputies still falls short in providing sufficient guarantees
with regards to the right to a fair trial. Repeated delays in
this trial further give rise to doubts about the effectiveness
of the guarantees that the SSC can offer so far.
On Friday August 15, 2003, the defence dropped
its demand for the release of the jailed four former deputies
of the pro-Kurdish DEP. Defence lawyer Yusuf Alatas had requested
the release of the defendants, pending verdicts, in all five
previous hearings. The judges ruled in favour of the prosecutor
who had objected to the release of the defendants. In this sixth
hearing last Friday, the leading defence lawyer said that there
was no point arguing for their release. “We can not be
effective in this court anyway… We don’t want to
be part of the trial that is just a formality. We don’t
think it is right to make any request since they will be rejected
anyway”, Alatas said.
The FIDH is particularly concerned with
the persistence of the States Security Courts system and recalls
that the European Court of Human Rights (ECRTHR) has pointed
out several times that these courts fall short of presenting
all the guarantees of a fair and impartial trial. At present,
there are eight State Security Courts (DGM) in Turkey including
Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Diyarbakir, Malatya, Erzurum, Van,
and Adana .
Judicial system reform process, and in particular
the abolition of the State Security Court, should urgently become
a priority for the Turkish government in its bid to join the
European Union.
While welcoming the significant and positive
developments in Turkish legislation through the adoption of
the 7th harmonization package by the Parliament on July 30,
FIDH stresses the need for:
- Turkish authorities to ensure a fair, impartial and independent
trial and release the four jailed Kurdish deputies immediately;
- Turkish authorities to effectively implement the recently
adopted reforms;
- The European Commission to closely monitor the trial against
the former DEP deputies, on the occasion of the September 15’s
hearing to be held before the Ankara State Security Court n°1,
in light of the “right to a fair trial before an independent
and impartial tribunal” and in view of the adoption of
its annual report progress.
|
