The Kobanî case was filed in 2020 against 108 people, including the HDP’s former co- chairs, Mr Selahattin Demirtaş and Ms Figen Yüksekdağ, several HDP deputies and mayors, and all the members of the HDP’s Central Executive Board active in 2014. This case was launched as a counter move of the Turkish government just two weeks after the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights had made its final judgment demanding immediate release of Selahattin Demirtaş.
The indictment in the Kobanî case is based on a twitter message posted by the HDP on 6 October 2014. The message called for democratic protests in solidarity with the people of Kobanî, a Kurdish town in Northern Syria that was fighting against the attacks of ISIS, and also against Turkey’s embargo on the town. The prosecutor has demanded for all the defendants 38 counts of aggravated life sentence (without parole) for the alleged crimes of “destroying the unity of the state and the integrity of the country” and of “premeditated murder”. The “murders” refer to the death of 38 people, the overwhelming majority of whom were Kurdish protestors killed by police gunfire. Eighteen politicians are currently being held in pre-trial detention for this case. Moreover, the prosecutor’s office has also launched an investigation against some former HDP MPs who were Central Executive Board at the time but were not investigated because they were still members of parliament.
The Kobanî case is closely linked with the closure case filed against the HDP in 2021, for which it serves as a pretext. The closure case is mostly based on the alleged responsibility of the HDP for the murders during the Kobanî protests in 2014. However, the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR had already examined these allegations in the case of Selahattin Demirtaş and concluded that neither Demirtaş nor the HDP had any responsibility for the murders, and Mr Demirtaş should be immediately released. Yet, President Erdoğa responded by saying, “The ECtHR approves every decision regarding “terror” issues in Turkey. There has been no final decision from our own courts, yet. They (the ECtHR) are acting against Turkey. How can someone who caused the death of 50 people be released? This ruling does not bind us.” Eight days later, the indictment for the Kobanî case was prepared.
There has been immense pressure of the government on the court for this case. The court has so far taken many decisions that directly violated, even denied, the right to defence, and therefore the right to a fair trial. For example, on the first day of the hearing, the courtroom was filled with law enforcement officers, even in the sections reserved for lawyers. After chairing the court for more than a year, the president of the court was dismissed and put under house arrest on the grounds that he was a member of a criminal organization. Defendants and their lawyers have been unlawfully interrupted many times by the court and their microphones have been turned off. The court arbitrarily restricted some evidence that the lawyers wanted to present. In the hearing on 25 April 2022, an interim decision was made to limit the defence period to one day, including lawyers’ statements. Numerous requests from defence lawyers to collect evidence were categorically rejected. The prosecutor has only collected evidence that was thought to be against the defendants.
The court decided to send the file to the prosecutor for his obiter dictum without even completing the interrogation of all defendants, including those of HDP’s former co-chairs. On 14 April, before the interrogations of the politicians on trial were completed, the court asked the prosecutor to submit his final opinion. In response, the defendants left the courtroom together with their lawyers. The prosecutor read out the 5,000-page opinion in eight hours. In his final opinion, the prosecutor ignored all the evidence filed in favour of the defendants. Deliberately distorting evidence and openly declaring that he gave a political opinion, the prosecutor demanded aggravated life sentence for all politicians on trial. He also demanded that arrest warrants be issued for twelve defendants who were standing trial without arrest.
This is a politically motivated case to destroy the HDP and democratic opposition, criminalize the Kobanî resistance against the ISIS, and structure Turkish politics according to the authoritarian agenda of President Erdogan and his allies. Our lawyers expect that the case may be concluded in a couple of months with heavy penalties. It is in such an urgent context that we call on all international institutions and individuals committed to the rule of law, democracy and human rights to continue follow and observe the hearing of the Kobanî case.
