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Evrensel columnist Yusuf Karataş sentenced to 10 years and 6 months imprisonment

Yusuf Karataş, columnist for Evrensel Newspaper has been sentenced to 10 years and 6 months in prison for participating in the Democratic Society Congress panel in 2011.

Evrensel columnist Yusuf Karataş

Yusuf Karataş, columnist for Evrensel Newspaper has been sentenced to 10 years and 6 months in prison for participating in the Democratic Society Congress (DTK)* panel in 2011.

Karataş spoke at the DTK as a member of the executive of the Labour Party of Turkey (EMEP). Like Karatas, other executives and MPs from the current ruling party, the AKP, also spoke at the event. However Karataş has faced charges of “being a member of a terror organisation” whilst AKP representatives have not faced any proceedings.

Karataş who has been sentenced for his participation in panels in 2011, was detained in July 2017 and imprisoned for 57 days at the time. He was later released pending the trial.

EMEP: “POLITICIZED JUDICIARY DEMONSTRATED LAWLESSNESS ONCE AGAIN WITH THE SENTENCING OF YUSUF KARATAŞ”

Labour Party (EMEP) Chair Selma Gürkan said the decision for the 10 years and 6 months prison sentencing given to EMEP Central Executive Committee member and journalist Yusuf Karataş "demonstrated lawlessness once again" by the politicized judiciary.

Gürkan stated that the trial of Karataş, who also holds a position as chair's adviser, due to a case regarding the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) "was unlawful from the very beginning and the judicial process was carried out with unfounded claims and political concerns".

Reminding that in DTK's foundation some MPs from the ruling party AKP also took part and attended some of its meetings and DTK presence was also allowed during official protocols, Gürkan said "those who were not from the ruling party in its foundation have been prosecuted and continue to be prosecuted with allegations that they were 'connected with terrorist organisations'."

"POLITICAL ACTIVITIES HAVE BEEN PUNISHED AND A CONSTITUTIONAL CRIME COMMITTED"

Emphasizing that DTK is a formation that has tried to draw attention to democracy problems, especially the Kurdish problem in the country, and to find solutions, Gürkan said that its activities cannot be considered a crime:

“It has a wide profile of participants, from political parties to trade unions, from individuals to democratic mass organizations, youth and women's initiatives, intellectuals, academics and writers. As a member of the Labour Party, Yusuf Karataş represented our party within the DTK, and carried out activities that expressed views on the democracy problems in the country, including the solution of the Kurdish problem, within the framework of our party's program and policies. The trial process is unlawful, even the phone calls Karataş made with the members and executives of our party were considered as a crime and punished. Participating in organizations such as the Mesopotamia Social Forum with attendees from all over the world, protesting the detention and arrest of politicians, protesting the Roboski-Uludere massacre**, was deemed a crime and punished. Examples of such baseless accusations in the case file may increase, but they are all unlawful allegations justifying the running of the trial process aimed at punishing. Political activities were punished and the right to engage in politics was actually tried and a constitutional crime was committed by the judiciary itself. "

"WE CONDEMN THE UNLAWFUL DECISION AND EMPHASIZE OUR COMMITMENT TO THE STRUGGLE"

Gürkan pointed out that the punishment given to Yusuf Karataş and the trial process is one of the clear indicators of the judiciary that has been politicized as a whole:

"Today, the third biggest party of the parliament, HDP (Peoples Democratic Party) members and leaders, including former co-chairs, elected politicians are being tried and convicted with the same unlawfulness. More than 100 journalists are being held and tried in prisons with similar unlawfulness. Almost every segment of society that opposes, criticizes, demands rights, freedoms and peace is under the threat of the judiciary. We do not consider the trial process in which Yusuf Karataş was convicted separately from these policies. Every day, they add new ones to the judicial unlawfulness under the command of the [presidential] palace and under the tutelage of the one man rulership. Until today, no pressure, threat, punishment method has prevented those who want democracy and freedom from their path. The path to democracy is through struggle. We condemn this unlawfulness. With the awareness that a true democracy will come with the struggle of the working class and labourers, all the oppressed; our party once again emphasizes its determination in the struggle.”

* Democratic Society Congress (DTK) is a pro-Kurdish NGO, favouring the implementation of democratic confederalism in Turkish politics. Its foundation congress was held in October 2007.

** The airstrike by Turkish army on the Roboski (Uludere) village of the city of Sirnak near the Iraq-Turkey border took place in December 2011 when a group of civilians were bombed, resulting with the killing of 34 people including children. (EVRENSEL DAILY)


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