Court accepts state institutions' request to join ‘Second Kobanê Case'

A Turkish court has accepted the requests of the Religious Affairs Directorate, Finance Ministry, and National Intelligence Organization to be included in the lawsuit against former officials of the pro-Kurdish HDP during the second hearing of the “Second Kobanê” trials.

Wednesday September 11 2024 12:25 pm

Fatma Kurtulan, Pero Dündar, Garo Paylan, Serpil Kemalbay, and Hüda Kaya face life sentences in the case.

Duvar English

The 22nd High Criminal Court in Turkey’s capital Ankara on Sept. 10 held the second hearing of the "Second Kobanê Trial" where the former officials of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) are being charged for instigating protests held in response to ISIS's attack on Kobanê in 2014.

The trial involved former HDP deputies Hüda Kaya, Serpil Kemalbay, Fatma Kurtulan, Pero Dündar, and Garo Paylan, who each faced 38 aggravated life sentences for their alleged roles in the protests from October 6-8, 2014.

Hüda Kaya, recently released from custody, attended the hearing via the videoconferencing system (SEGBIS). The politicians' lawyers were also present, along with attorneys representing the Interior Ministry, the Istanbul Governor's Office, and various state institutions.

The court announced that the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), the Presidency of Religious Affairs, the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, and several other ministries and institutions had requested to join the case, according to reporting by the Mezopotamya Agency (MA).

In response to the prosecutor's requests, Kaya argued that the allegations were baseless and that the trial was unlawful. The defense attorneys echoed these sentiments.

After the defenses were presented, the court ruled against lifting the judicial control measures on Kaya. The court also accepted the participation requests from the ministries and institutions and decided to initiate the necessary procedures for the extradition of politician Serpil Kemalbay to Turkey. The hearing was adjourned until Nov. 5.

The five defendants were separated from the main Kobanê case, and the prosecutor’s office asked for 38 counts of life sentences for each of the former deputies.

The Kobanê protests took place between Oct. 6 and 8, 2014, and caused the deaths of dozens. Protesters flooded streets in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast at the time, outraged over the Turkish government's inaction in protecting Syrian Kurds as ISIS besieged Kobanê, just across the Syrian border.

The defendants were accused of several crimes, including the murders of 37 people and “disrupting the unity and integrity of the state.”

In the controversial verdicts of the Kobanê trial, the court sentenced former HDP co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ to 42 years and 30 years, respectively.