Italian delegation allowed in Court

Italian delegation allowed in Court

Yesterday in was the turn of the Italian delegation to assist at the trial against 151 Kurdish politicians and activists. Before entering the Courtroom the delegation waited outside the Court House with their multi coloured banner saying "Set them all free" in Italian, Kurdish, Turkish and English. The delegation then split in two. One group entered the Courtroom, while the second stayed outside with the hundreds of people who waited outside. After a while, the delegation moved in front of Diyarbakir Town Hall and read a press release in which the delegation expressed "solidarity with our friends who have been in jail for nearly a year. They are majors, local government representatives, activists, members of peace associations, women and men who have been working with the people, have listen to them, have built together with them important facilities, like drainage systems, health systems." And this work, said the delegation, "is the reason of their being punished. The arrests and this trial are yet another attempt to annihilate the Kurdish civil society. It began before the March 2009 local elections, and it continued with the arrests of thousands, the death of some people, and the ban of the DTP (Democratic Society Party)".