PKK: Prison sentences asked for Kurdish politicians in France (Adem Uzun)

02.03.2013 –  FIRAT NEWS – Three to five years in prison has been asked for 18 Kurdish politicians whose trial is going on since their detention in 2007 in France. The action of objection in the trial was held from 11 to 27 February. The court decision on Kurdish politicians will be announced on 23 April 2013.

Speaking in court following the two-days lasting defense statements by lawyers, Kurdish politician Nedim Seven demanded light beeing shed on the execution of Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan and Leyla Şaylemez in Paris on 9 January. Seven remarked that the French court trying them was a political act, adding; “None of the trials of Kurds will go beyond making a political decision unless the 30 years-old war between the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party), Kurds and the Turkish state is taken to trial at an international and independent court. Just like the former decision, the new decision to be made will also be a political one because of the political character of the case”.

Seven pointed out that the court decision will never be able to deter them nor the Kurdish people from taking part in the freedom struggle of Kurds. Calling attention to the ongoing process of talks between the Turkish state and Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, Seven called on the French state to end its repressive policies against Kurds and to side with dialogue and peace instead.

During the action of objection, which took place in Paris last week, EMP deputy Marie Christine Vergiat, who was heard as witness together with BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) deputy co-chair Meral Beştaş, called attention to French state’s Kurdish policy which – she said – had changed in 2007 because of France’s relations with Turkey. Verdiat  demanded independence by French judicial authorities.

The security cooperation agreement made by France and Turkey in October 2011 allows police forces of both countries to carry out joint operations against Kurds. This cooperation not only leads to the arrest of hundreds of Kurds living in France but also promotes attacks on Kurdish associations in France and other European countries.

French authorities have yet shed no light on the execution of Sakine Cansız, a co-founder of the PKK, Fidan Doğan, representative of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) in Paris and Leyla Şaylemez, member of the Kurdish youth movement, in Paris on 9 January. Around 250 Kurds have been taken into custody in France for political reasons since 2007, among them being Adem Uzun, member of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK), who has been under arrest since his detention in Paris in October 2012. Despite all the reactions that French left-wing parties and non-governmental organizations have raised against the security agreement with Turkey, the ruling Socialist Party is maintaining the criminalization policies against Kurds first adopted by the Sarkozy government.