Invitations in Kurdish Considered a Crime

13 administrators of the Rights and Freedoms Party (Hak-Par) have been condemned to prison sentences varying between six months to one year for violating the Law on Political Parties (SPK).

All suspects were brought to trial because of sending invitations for the 1st general congress of the party in Kurdish.

Ankara 3rd Court of First Instance also decided to file a complaint for the closure of the party to the Head Prosecution of the Supreme Court of Appeals.

Fehmi Demir, Fettah Karagöz, Ayşe Demir, Bayram Bozyel, Gönül Dabakoğlu, Şeref Yalçın, Necdet Gündem and İlhan Güneri, who were tried for violating the article 117 of SPK, have been condemned to six months imprisonment which is rendered as a monetary fine in return.

The court ruled for one-year imprisonment for the former chair of the party Abdülmelik Fırat, former vice chair İbrahim Güçlü and other administrators on grounds of the "intense deliberation of the alleged crime".

All defendants gave their legal defenses in Kurdish during the trials, which were then translated into Turkish.

Saying that the use of Kurdish in party communications wouldn't be considered a crime with regard to international law and standards, Fehmi Demir urged the court to base its decision on such principles rather than the restrictive SPK.

Such cases block the way for a dialogue between different parts of the Turkish society, added İbrahim Güçlü, urging for a pluralist and democratic approach.

Other defendants argued that Kurdish is their mother tongue and it shouldn't be considered a crime to use the language during the party congrass in question, which was held on January 4, 2004.(EO/EU)