MARDİN - In Mardin, the trial against Kurdish activists who did not leave Nusaybin after the declaration of self-government and who were arrested after the evacuation of the town continues. Many have already been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Since April 2018, 70 people, including 17 minors, who did not leave Mardin's Nusaybin district, after the declaration of self-government in 2015 and who have been in detention since 26 May 2016 have been standing trial in the Northern Kurdish province of Mardin. The accusation in all cases is "membership to a terrorist organization" and "violation of Turkey's territorial integrity". Many of the defendants have already been convicted on the basis of their statements extorted under torture. The trial of the Nusaybin resistance has continued since the end of November.
One of the victims, who had refused to leave their homes and were later arrested, is the 46-year-old woman Nurşan Demir. The mother of five had taken refuge from the fighting in a cellar from which she was later evacuated. She was arrested, tortured and imprisoned in Mardin prison. She was released from custody only last June. However, the charges against her were not dropped. In absentia, she was sentenced today to ten years imprisonment for "membership to a terrorist organization".
Since the opening of the proceedings in the Nusaybin trial, 35 of those concerned have been sentenced to life imprisonment plus various prison sentences. Separate proceedings are also underway against 17 youth who had also been evacuated from the besieged city and imprisoned. Six of them have already been sentenced to 35 years' imprisonment, and three others have been given prison sentences of between 11 and 21 years.