31.01-02.02.2009 Daily Human Rights Report
(02/001) The case of the murder of Kemal Türkler…
On 30 January 2009 the Supreme Court of Appeal annulled the verdict of Bakirköy Heavy Penal Court No.2 in the case of the murder of Kemal Türkler, the former president of the Revolutionary Workers Trade Union (DISK) who was killed in front of his house in Merter Quarter of Istanbul Province on 22 July 1980 on the grounds that “inadequate investigation”. Ünal Osmanagaoglu who had organised the murder and fired the gun and therefore the main actor of the incident according to the Supreme Court, was acquitted in the case in 2003.
Other defendants in the same case -Abdulsamet Karakus, Aydin Eryilmaz and Ismet Koça- was sentenced to 32 years’ of imprisonment each on charges of “homicide” and “usurping the car used in the incident” on 7 April 1987 (Radikal, 30 January).
(02/002) Explosion in Istanbul Province…
Cihat Çakiroglu (17) was wounded in the explosion of a bomb in front of a mall in Sisli District of Istanbul Province on 1 February 2009 (ntvmsnbc.com, 1 February).
(02/003) Human Rights Violations after the changes in the Law on Duties and Authority of Police...
Two transsexual members of the Workers Movement Party (Emekçi Hareket Partisi) were allegedly beaten by a police team in Eskisehir Province on 1 February 2009 (Birgün, 1 February).
(02/004) Coercion in prison…
Bingöl M Type Closed Prison’s administration began to ask the pre-trial detainees to pay their road expenditure for their hearings on the grounds that Ministry of Justice “did not grant appropriation” (Gündem, 1 February).
(02/005) Inteference to the protest…
Police teams interfered the demonstrators who were protesting the solitary confinement sentence given to Abdullah Öcalan as they began to march to the Democratic Society Party’s (DTP) Cizre District building in Cizre District of Sirnak Province on 1 February 2009. Hüseyin Benzer (19) was seriously wounded with the hit of a gas bomb and 5 demonstrators were detained in the incident (Gündem, 1 February).
(02/006) Attack on association building… Ten people were wounded in the attack of unidentified people to the (pro-Islamist) Social Solidarity and Councils Association -Toplumsal Dayanisma ve Sura Dernegi (Sura-Der)- in Adana Province on 1 February 2009 (ntvmsnbc.com, 2 February).
(02/007) Convicted demonstrators…
Adana Heavy Penal Court No. 8 sentenced 12 people to one to two years’ of imprisonments in connection with the Newroz Celebrations in Konya Province on 21 March 2007 on charges of “praising crime and criminal” under the Article of 215/1 of TPCTurkish Penal Code on 30 January 2009 (Gündem, 30 January).
(02/008) Hindered theatre play…
Istanbul Beyoglu Municipality hindered the theatre play “Laz Marx” -written by Yilmaz Okumus and adopted by Haldun Açiksözlü- to be staged in Muammer Karaca Theatre (sendika.org, 28 January).
(02/009) Arrested DTP member…
DTP’s former Patnos District chairperson Mehmet Sirin Açik, was arrested on charges of “being a member of an illegal organisation” in Patnos District of Agri Province on 31 January 2009 (Günlük, 1 February).
(02/010) Arrested journalist…
Diyarbakir Heavy Penal Court No. 6 decided to arrest the former editor of Azadiya Welat Newspaper Vedat Kursun, on the grounds that he did not give testimony in a case on 30 January 2009 (Gündem, 30 January).
