"Verdict Delivered in Kobani Case – Breaking News"
Ankara 22nd High Criminal Court has announced its opinion in the trial where 108 defendants, including former HDP co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, and 18 of whom are imprisoned, are being tried for their involvement in the actions organized on 6-8 October 2014 under the guise of protests for Kobani. The court announced that some of the defendants were directly responsible for the initiation of the terrorist incidents on the date of the incident and the spread of the acts throughout Turkey, and that the names in question called for the masses supporting the organization to take to the streets. The court also stated that the defendants acted in collaboration with the terrorist organization PKK and called for a crime to be committed.
The court demanded aggravated life imprisonment for Demirtaş, Yüksekdağ and 32 other defendants for the crime of "destroying the unity of the state and the integrity of the country." Meanwhile, Demirtaş, Yüksekdağ, and 25 other defendants, including Zeynep Karaman and Sebahat Tuncel, were also demanded six more aggravated life sentences for the crime of "qualified killing" related to the murder of six people, including Yasin Börü.
Different rates of imprisonment were requested for the defendants for crimes such as damage to property, restriction of freedom, attempted murder, deliberate injury and theft. The defendants and their lawyers made statements against the documents that came to the case file, but the court proceeded with its opinion on the merits.
The opinion stated that the HDP administration and the leaders of the terrorist organization PKK had called for a protest after the terrorist organization DAESH attacked Kobani in October 2014. Illegal demonstrations started in 32 provinces and 96 districts, including Istanbul, Ankara, Bursa and Diyarbakır. The youth organization of the terrorist organization PKK had targeted law enforcement as well as civilians. While the judicial process was ongoing in the provinces and districts where the attacks took place, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation against those who made illegal calls for actions on the streets leading to the loss of many lives.
It is worth noting that some of the defendants did not accept the submission of the opinion before completing their interrogation. Therefore, the hearing was adjourned until the next one for the defendants and their lawyers to prepare a defense against the opinion.
