ANKARA - The Kobanê trial in Ankara has been adjourned because the judge is in quarantine. HDP co-chairwoman Pervin Buldan called for solidarity with the defendants and stated that the trial is political.

 

The second session of the 4th hearing of the Kobanê Case, where 108 people, 20 of whom are currently behind bars, including the executives of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), was held at the Sincan Prison Campus today.

 

The "Kobanê trial" against 108 defendants has continued in Ankara. The subject of the trial is the protests in Turkey at the time of the ISIS attack on Kobanê in October 2014. The defendants include the entire executive board of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) at the time, including the former co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ. Twenty of the defendants are in prison. After yesterday's trial, today's hearing has been adjourned until Thursday because the presiding judge is in quarantine following contact with a Corona-infected person.

 

The HDP co-chairwoman Pervin Buldan pointed out again on Monday that the judiciary in Turkey works on "orders from above". She stated that the proceedings against her party colleagues are a political trial without any legal basis, the indictment consists of untruths and unsubstantiated allegations that have nothing to do with reality.

 

Buldan called for the HDP not to be left alone: "We want to express how important it is that democratic forces show solidarity. The AKP should not try to whitewash itself with this procedure. Who the dark forces were during that time is obvious. The efforts of the HDP and Mr. Öcalan's call at that time are well known. At this point, I would like to point out once again that this is a political process with no legal basis. We will not abandon our colleagues under any circumstances."

 

Accused in Ankara's so-called Kobanê trial are 108 figures from politics, civil society and the Kurdish liberation movement who are accused of terrorist crimes and murder in dozens of cases in connection with the protests during the ISIS attack on Kobanê in October 2014. For former HDP chairman Selahattin Demirtaş alone, the chief public prosecutor’s office is demanding up to 15,000 years in prison.