NEWS CENTER - There are many rulings by the Court of Cassation, Constitutional Court and ECHR that the slogan "Bijî Serok Apo", which was used as a justification for the arrest of some young people in Mersin, is not a crime.

 

The lynching campaign launched by racist accounts on virtual media against Kurdish young people through Kurdish songs and halay continues. Many people were detained and arrested in Mersin, Agirî (Ağrı), Êlih (Batman), Sêrt (Siirt) and Colemêrg (Hakkari) within this scope. The reason for the arrest of the young people is the claim of "making propaganda for a terrorist organization".

 

A group of young people in Mersin became the target of racist accounts on virtual media through a video of them dancing the halay accompanied by Kurdish songs. The 9 young people who were targeted over an old image were detained on July 22. The young people were charged with "making propaganda for a terrorist organization". A song with the slogan "Bijî Serok Apo (Long live Leader Apo)" was cited as the reason for the accusation in question. The police made the young people listen to the song "Ölürüm Türkiyem", which is a Turkish nationalist song sung during the violence against Kurds, while they were in custody. The young people were arrested on July 25 based on the claim in question.

 

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

 

There are many judicial decisions that the slogan that was used as the reason for the arrest of the young people is not a crime. Many decisions made by local courts based on the slogan in question were overturned by higher courts and resulted in acquittals. Here are some of the decisions that the Court of Cassation, the Constitutional Court (AYM) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) have ruled as violations:

 

AYM: FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION VIOLATED

 

A lawsuit was filed against Hanifi Biçimli for "making propaganda for an organization" due to the "I also say Mr. Öcalan" protest held in Amed (Diyarbakır) on July 7, 2008 and the slogans "Bijî Serok Apo" and "PKK is the people, the people are here" chanted during the march on October 18, 2008. Biçimli was detained on December 16, 2009 due to the said protest and arrested a day later. On February 23, 2010, Biçimli was sentenced to 10 months in prison due to the slogans chanted in two separate protests. Biçimli was released with the verdict. The Court of Cassation overturned the verdict on July 2, 2012 and ruled that "the prosecution the court ruled that the case should be postponed. The objection to the decision in question was rejected.

 

Formıklı made an individual application to the Constitutional Court on August 26, 2013. The Constitutional Court reminded the Constitutional Court of the article titled "Freedom of Expression and Dissemination of Thought", which states "Everyone has the right to express and disseminate their thoughts and opinions, either individually or collectively, through speech, writing, pictures or other means. This freedom also includes the freedom to receive or impart news or ideas without the intervention of official authorities..."

 

The Constitutional Court ruled that "freedom of expression has been violated."

 

ACQUITTAL FOR PKK SLOGAN

 

A lawsuit was filed against 10 people who attended the Newroz celebrations and the opening of the BDP building in Dîlok in 2013. The slogans "Long Live Leader Apo" and "PKK is the people, the people are here" were cited as grounds for the lawsuit. The Adana 10th High Criminal Court ruled to acquit all 10 people in the case filed on the charge of "making propaganda for an organization". The court decision emphasized "freedom of expression" and emphasized that the crime directed at the individuals consisted only of chanting slogans, and that according to the data obtained from the crime scene surveillance and imaging reports, no violence was used.

 

In the Peyas (Kayapınar) district of Amed in 2018, 2 children who went to the amusement park with the pocket money they collected during the Ramadan Feast got on the entertainment vehicle known as a gondola. As the gondola accelerated, the 2 children made a victory sign and chanted the slogan "Long Live Leader Apo". The police detained the children. A lawsuit was filed against the children who were released the same day. The first hearing of the case, which was filed on the charge of "making propaganda for a terrorist organization", was held on June 26 of the same year at the Diyarbakır Juvenile High Criminal Court.

 

'NOT VIOLENT'

 

The court ruled to acquit the children. The reasoned decision stated, "Although a lawsuit was filed on the allegation that the children went to an amusement park, got on a fun vehicle called a 'gondola', made a victory sign and chanted slogans such as 'Biji Apo, Serok Apo', thus committing the crime of making propaganda for an organization, when the concrete incident was examined, it was understood that the slogans in question did not praise the methods of the organization including force, violence and threat as foreseen in this article or legitimize or encourage the use of such methods, therefore, the elements of the crime attributed to the minor were not met, and considering the issues in the aforementioned decision of the Court of Cassation, it was decided that the minors were acquitted of the crime of making propaganda for an organization, the elements of which were not met."

 

Tahir Tuğrul, who chanted slogans saying "Öcalan" while protesting the attacks on Kobane in Mersin in 2014, was sentenced to 6 months in prison by the Mersin 4th High Criminal Court for "making propaganda for an organization". The 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals ruled that the decision was "unlawful", stating that the legal elements of the crime of "propaganda for a terrorist organization" were not met. 

 

ACQUITTED FOR SLOGAN AT HEARING

 

Mustafa Kaplan, who was arrested on the grounds that he participated in the protests held in Amed in 2011, was sentenced to 17 years in prison by the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court. Upon hearing that he was sentenced to prison in the case in which he was tried while in custody, Kaplan chanted the slogan "Bijî Serok Apo" in the courtroom.

 

The prosecutor, who initiated an investigation upon the criminal complaint, prepared an indictment against Ramazan Kaplan on January 31, 2013, on the charge of "making propaganda for a terrorist organization."

 

The Diyarbakır 9th High Criminal Court, Kaplan, sentenced Kaplan to 10 months in prison in its decision announced on May 24, 2013.

 

Following the announcement of the reasoned decision, defendant Mustafa Kaplan's lawyer filed an appeal. The 16th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation ruled that the slogan did not constitute the crime of propaganda and ruled that the decision be overturned. In the subsequent trial, Kaplan was acquitted.

 

VIOLATION DECISION FROM ECHR

 

A lawsuit was filed against Süleyman Yurtdaş and Özgür Söylemez on the grounds of the slogan “Bijî Serok Apo” chanted during a demonstration in Dersim on September 16, 2008. The Tunceli 9th Criminal Court of First Instance imposed a fine on both names on December 8, 2009, for “praising the crime and the criminal.” After exhausting domestic remedies, an application was made to the ECHR. The ECHR ruled that there was a violation and sentenced Turkey to pay compensation.