COLEMÊRG - Speaking ahead of the hearing to be held following the overturning of the sentence handed down to Mehmet Siddik Akis, the co-mayor of Colemêrg who was arrested and replaced by a kayyum, his lawyer Azad Özer stated that Akis should be released and reinstated to his position. 

 

The case against Mehmet Siddik Akis, Co-Mayor of Colemêrg (Hakkari) Municipality, who was arrested and replaced by a trustee, on charges of "organisation leader" and sentenced to 19 years and 6 months in prison, was overturned by the Van Regional Court of Appeal 2nd Criminal Chamber. The retrial of Akkış and 11 others will begin on 3 December at the Hakkari 1st Heavy Penal Court. 

 

After the Court of Appeal sent its decision to the 1st Heavy Penal Court, the court issued an interim decision requesting that the deficiencies cited as grounds for the overturning be addressed. The court ruled that the Kurdish speech analyses were not conducted according to procedure, that the actions of the politicians constituting the crime were not clearly and thoroughly explained in the reasoned decision, that no definitive ruling was made on whether there was an organic link between the politicians and the organisation, failure to read the indictment and its appendices and to hear the defence in accordance with the procedure before reaching a verdict, thereby restricting the defendants' right to defence, and finally, failure to indicate whether a decision had been made to monitor the defendants' communications.

 

INCORRECT TRANSLATIONS 

 

Many documents requested by the court prior to the first hearing were also submitted to the case file. In particular, the expert report stated that the police had mistranslated the Kurdish conversations. The expert report determined that the phrase "il örgütü (provincial organisation)”, spoken in Kurdish, was translated as "PKK" in the "organisation" part. It also revealed that the phrases "Birêz Ocalan/Mr Ocalan" were translated as "Birayêmin/my brother Ocalan". 

 

‘WE WANT A DECISION IN LINE WITH THE PROCESS’

 

One of the lawyers of the case Azad Ozer stated that Akis will be brought to the hearing tomorrow.  Stressing that almost of the political party’s activities have been considered organisational activities. Ozer said: “The decision to be made tomorrow must be in line with the spirit of the process. The usurpation of power must now come to an end. A process is currently underway to resolve these issues in Turkey. In such political cases, legal decisions must be made in accordance with the process. We demand a legal decision on this case and the reinstatement of the co-chair to his position. We call on all democratic public opinion and our colleagues to support the hearing."

 

REMINDER

 

Co-Mayor Akis was detained on 3 June 2024, subsequently removed from office, and replaced by an administrator. Akis had been sentenced to 19 years and 6 months in prison on 5 June in a trial that had been ongoing since 2014, on charges of being an "organisation leader". 

 

The Ministry of the Interior appointed an administrator to the municipality based on this decision. Of the 11 politicians tried alongside Akis, İzzet Belge, Hıfzullah Kansu, Kadriye Ilbas, Mikail Atan, Seyhan Sahin and Faruk Yildiz were sentenced to 8 years and 9 months in prison on charges of "terrorist organization membership" while Tahir Koc, Husna Sagin, and Hamdiye Ciftci Oksuz, a reporter for the DIHA news agency, which was closed by a decree, were sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in prison, also on charges of "terrorist organization membership". After the reasons for the decision were announced, the lawyers appealed the case to the court of appeal. 

 

CASE OVERTURNED 

 

The Van Regional Court of Appeal, 2nd Criminal Chamber, after its review, overturned the entire case and sent it back to the local court. The Court of Appeal ruled that the Kurdish speech analyses were not conducted according to procedure, the actions of the defendants constituting the crime were not clearly and thoroughly detailed in the reasoned decision, failure to establish whether there was an organic link between the defendants and the organisation, restriction of the defendants' right to defence by passing judgement without reading the indictment and its annexes and without obtaining a defence in accordance with the procedure, and finally, failure to indicate whether there was a decision to monitor the defendants' communications. 

 

The case was subsequently referred to the Hakkari 1st Heavy Penal Court. A hearing date was set.

 

MA / Adnan Bilen