Court releases 17 arrested in KCK case in Mardin
DİYARBAKIR – Anadolu Agency
A local court in southeastern Turkey released 17 arrested suspects in a trial over membership of the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), the urban wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), on Sept. 25.Diyarbakır’s 9th High Criminal Court decided for the release of 17 suspects, who were under arrest pending trial on charges of membership of the KCK. Thirty other suspects are still being tried without arrest as part of the trial.
On Dec. 9, 2012, 47 people were arrested in the southeastern province of Mardin as part of an operation against the KCK. All suspects are accused of “being a member of a terror organization and managing a terror organization,” with possible sentences of between five and 10 years in prison.
The suspects’ phone calls were used as evidence in the indictment, but their lawyers claimed that phone calls could not be the sole proof of membership to the KCK.
