The court decision asserts that the Turkish "state acts in self-defense when it undertakes operations to end armed attacks by terrorists [...]. To describe these operations as 'massacres' while making no mention of the terrorists who are in fact responsible for the violence is evidence that the signatories share the views and support the actions of the terrorist organization. The court concludes that the petition must be understood in this light as a form of support for terrorist activities. As a consequence, there is substantial evidence that the suspects committed the crime of which they are accused."
Apparently, according to the court, the fact that the ruling party AKP (together with the Turkish nationalist party MHP) blocked a parliamentary investigation of the ISIS-led suicide bombing in Suruc on July 20, 2015, and that instead of conducting an investigation, it chose to bomb PKK camps--and thus unilaterally ending the peace process, is not reason enough to call AKP for accountability. Neither does it seem to matter that had the AKP not block the investigation, perhaps the bloody Ankara bombing in October 2015 (that resulted in the loss of 102 lives) might have been prevented. The October Ankara bombing was apparently instigated by the same ISIS cell as the Suruc bombing. The bombing target there was a Peace Rally in Ankara asking for a return to the peace negotiations. Further, it also doesn't seem to matter that such state policies should be accounted for, especially considering the images that demonstrate the scale of destruction as a result of what the court calls a self-defense, in addition to the loss of lives of civilians and kids.
The Arrest Decision Ruled by the Court
Overall, as the Human Rights Watch has noted, the fact of the matter is that three academics are in prison for having signed a petition calling their government for accountability, for maintaining a critical stance against their government's Kurdish policies and asking for peace.
Academics for Peace--The Arrest Decision Ordered by the Court in English Translation:
1. Concerning
the allegations against suspects Muzaffer Kaya, Esra Mungan and Kıvanç Ersoy of committing the crime of Engaging in Propaganda for a Terrorist
Organization: a request has been submitted for the detention of each of the suspects.
According to the investigative file in this case, following the shooting of two
police officers in the back by the PKK terrorist organization on 22 July 2015,
in the town of Ceylanpınar
in the province of Şanlıurfa, the PKK increased its activities and attacks.
To facilitate the continuation of its activities, the PKK has blocked security
services’ access to whole neighborhoods by digging trenches at the entrance of
neighborhoods and streets and building barricades; terrorists have attacked
security forces with rocket launchers and automatic rifles; and PKK affiliates
have proclaimed different localities to be self-governing on different dates.
In this context, BESE HOZAT, a co-chair of the executive committee of the
PKK/KCK terrorist organization issued a public call through the media that
“Enlightened and democratic circles should support these self-governments.”
Following this declaration, security services’ access to those areas that had
been declared so-called “self-governments” was blocked by the building of barricades,
the digging of trenches and booby-trapping the streets with explosives. In its
effort to re-establish security in these zones, the government imposed a curfew
and initiated military operations. During these operations a large number of members
of terrorist organizations were eliminated, barricades were removed, trenches were covered, large
numbers of explosives were disposed of, and large numbers of guns and munitions
were seized. While these operations were ongoing, on 11 January 2016, “1128”
persons, including the suspects, published a statement under the heading “We
will not be party to this crime!” The statement included the following claims: “The Turkish state has effectively condemned its citizens
in Sur, Silvan, Nusaybin, Cizre, Silopi, and many other towns and neighborhoods
in the Kurdish provinces to hunger through its use of curfews that have been
ongoing for weeks. It has attacked these settlements with heavy weapons and
equipment that would only be mobilized in wartime. As a result, the right to
life, liberty, and security, and in particular the prohibition of torture and
ill-treatment protected by the constitution and international conventions have
been violated. Describing the commission of deliberate and planned massacre … the
adoption of policies of massacre and deliberate deportation, the commission by
the state against its own citizens of violence and massacre, as academics and
researchers we will not be a party to this massacre.” This statement constitutes
support for the PKK terrorist organization and its timing suggests that it was
undertaken in parallel to PKK member Bese Hozat’s public demand [for support of
self-governments]. The PKK’s continuing armed attacks, which were the cause of
the violence in this period, were a matter of public record yet the statement
does not mention, criticize or condemn the PKK, a fact that underscores the
degree to which this statement appears designed to support the activities of
the terrorist organization. After the publication of the statement, the
suspects convened a press conference to read aloud the text again and use the
media to repeat the claims in the statement, which under the pretext of
supposedly calling for peace was in fact a form of propaganda for a terrorist
organization. Following this statement, all terrorist organizations and the PKK
terrorist organization have continued their activities, accelerating assaults
against the lives and property of all citizens without regard to whether their
targets are soldiers, police officers or civilians. These attacks represent a
grave threat to peace and security in the country. However much the suspects
and their supporters defend the statement under the rubric of freedom of
expression, it is clear that similar activities are addressed through
counter-terrorism measures in Europe. European states have responded to similar
terrorist threats by taking all necessary measures against those who commit
attacks and anyone that has the slightest relationship to such attackers
including armed operations against terrorists and those affiliated with
terrorists until such individuals are neutralized. The state’s most basic
obligation is to protect the rights of life and security for all of its
citizens. The state is acting in self-defense when it undertakes operations to
end armed attacks by terrorists who threaten these rights. To describe these
operations as “massacres” while making no mention of the terrorists who are in
fact responsible for the violence is evidence that the signatories share the
views and support the actions of the terrorist organization. The court
concludes that the petition must be understood in this light as a form of
support for terrorist activities. As a consequence, there is substantial
evidence that the suspects committed the crime of which they are accused. In
light of the importance and seriousness of the alleged crime, the minimum and
maximum punishment prescribed by law, the absence of any grounds precluding
arrest or trial under Article 100 et seq. of the Turkish Criminal Code, and the
risk that the suspects might try to escape in light of the seriousness of the
punishment they face, and giving due consideration to principles of “proportionality,”
the suspects are ordered arrested on the grounds that the investigation is
continuing and that the suspects represent a flight risk.
The
court orders that: The suspects Muzaffer Kaya, Esra Mungan, and Kıvanç Ersoy be
arrested in keeping with Article 100 et seq. of the Turkish Criminal Code on
suspicion of Engaging in Propaganda on behalf of a Terrorist Organization.
