MESOP : PKK MONEY BLACKMAIL IN FRANCE Nine Kurds Sentenced in Extortion Case in France Kurdish immigrants linked to PKK jailed for up to five years

Basnews | Luke Coleman – PARIS – 27 March 2015 – Two Kurdish immigrants, who threatened a man with violence because he didn’t pay a ‘revolutionary tax’, have been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in Paris. The men are linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), as are seven others who received sentences of between 30 months suspended to two years in prison. The nine Kurds were found guilty of running an extortion racket connected to the PKK, which remains on the European Union’s list of terror organisations. The case dates back to 2012 when a failed assassination attempt took place in Draguignan. Although that part of the investigation was eventually dropped, the enquiries led to the uncovering of the extortion campaign to raise funds for the PKK among Kurdish immigrants.