Kom Kurd president awaiting response
Kom Kurd president awaiting response
The Court of Appeal in Venice has said that it will answer in the next few days to Nizamettin Toguc lawyers’ request to set their client free.
Toguc was arrested in Padova last week by the Italian police acting on a request by Turkey. ANF spoke to Toguc’s lawyer, Arturo Salerni.
What is the situation of Toguc?
Toguc clearly has refused to be extradited to Turkey and now we have to wait for the decision of the Court of Appeal.
Can you put this arrest in the context of the recent Italian and European operations against Kurds?
Toguc, former MP in Turkey and an important Kurdish political representative in Europe, has been for years a political refugee in Holland. He became Dutch citizen depsite the numerous requests of extradition by Turkey. He freely moves around the countries of the European Union. The fact that Italy has decided to act on the international warrant mandate shows that there are strong pressures on our country operated by Turkey. But it also shows that our security organisms are giving in to these pressures. Luckily so far the Venice Court as well as the Court of Appeals of Florence and Rome, have expressed their sentences by putting the reasons of right and law before the reasons of the relations among governments.
Perhaps the last events in Italy have been influenced by the particular relation beetween Italian president Silvio Berlusconi and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Can you see any relation with the case of another Kurdish political figure, Nedin Seven?
A few months ago the Court of Appeal in Rome had rejected the request of a new extradition (from France to Turkey) against Mr Seven who was accused by Turkish magistrates of being one of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) in Europe and therefore Paris also said no to his extradition. It has to be noted that Mr Seven was sent to France by the Italian authorities as required by an European warrant mandate.
The case of Mr Toguc is ever more evident than that of Seve precisely because of the role Mr Toguc has had since 1994 both in the Turkish parliament and than here in Europe. Turkey is asking the extradition of Mr Toguc on the base of two arrest warrant, one by the Court of Ankara (for terrorism and links with the PKK) and the second by the Court of Diyarbakir (for separatism). Turkey has yet to produce the complete dossier on which it is formulating its accusation but it is clear – as we, the defense have expressed in Venice – that the accusation are political and therefore cannot be used as a base for an extradition request.
We are now waiting for the first answer by the Court of Appeal in Venice and for the dossier from Turkey before the first hearing relating to the extradition request. The first hearing will be held in October. We have produced a very long and detailed memoire as well as a cospicous documentation. We will produce new documents and insist for Toguc to be set free while waiting for the hearing.
Toguc was arrested in Padova last week by the Italian police acting on a request by Turkey. ANF spoke to Toguc’s lawyer, Arturo Salerni.
What is the situation of Toguc?
Toguc clearly has refused to be extradited to Turkey and now we have to wait for the decision of the Court of Appeal.
Can you put this arrest in the context of the recent Italian and European operations against Kurds?
Toguc, former MP in Turkey and an important Kurdish political representative in Europe, has been for years a political refugee in Holland. He became Dutch citizen depsite the numerous requests of extradition by Turkey. He freely moves around the countries of the European Union. The fact that Italy has decided to act on the international warrant mandate shows that there are strong pressures on our country operated by Turkey. But it also shows that our security organisms are giving in to these pressures. Luckily so far the Venice Court as well as the Court of Appeals of Florence and Rome, have expressed their sentences by putting the reasons of right and law before the reasons of the relations among governments.
Perhaps the last events in Italy have been influenced by the particular relation beetween Italian president Silvio Berlusconi and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Can you see any relation with the case of another Kurdish political figure, Nedin Seven?
A few months ago the Court of Appeal in Rome had rejected the request of a new extradition (from France to Turkey) against Mr Seven who was accused by Turkish magistrates of being one of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) in Europe and therefore Paris also said no to his extradition. It has to be noted that Mr Seven was sent to France by the Italian authorities as required by an European warrant mandate.
The case of Mr Toguc is ever more evident than that of Seve precisely because of the role Mr Toguc has had since 1994 both in the Turkish parliament and than here in Europe. Turkey is asking the extradition of Mr Toguc on the base of two arrest warrant, one by the Court of Ankara (for terrorism and links with the PKK) and the second by the Court of Diyarbakir (for separatism). Turkey has yet to produce the complete dossier on which it is formulating its accusation but it is clear – as we, the defense have expressed in Venice – that the accusation are political and therefore cannot be used as a base for an extradition request.
We are now waiting for the first answer by the Court of Appeal in Venice and for the dossier from Turkey before the first hearing relating to the extradition request. The first hearing will be held in October. We have produced a very long and detailed memoire as well as a cospicous documentation. We will produce new documents and insist for Toguc to be set free while waiting for the hearing.
