Lawsuit against 29 politicians over World Peace Day rally in Urfa

A lawsuit was filed against 29 politicians, including DBP Co-Chair Keskin Bayındır, on the grounds of organizing a rally in Urfa to mark September 1, World Peace Day.

Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Urfa provincial organization had organized a march in the city center on the occasion of September 1, World Peace Day last year.

A lawsuit has been launched now against 29 politicians who participated in the rally on charge of "organizing an illegal meeting and demonstration".

Democratic Regions Party (DBP) co-chair Keskin Bayındır and HDP Urfa provincial branch co-chair Nergiz Çiğdem Karakeçili are included in the case.

An indictment prepared against the politicians was accepted by the Urfa 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance. Rallying for peace was cited as a base for the charges in the case.

According to the indictment submitted to the court, the Turkish police stopped the action on the grounds of the slogans "Jin, Jiyan, Azadî" [Woman, Life, Freedom] and "Bijî azadî" [Long Live Freedom].

The indictment said:  "(...) it is understood that the group in action was stopped for chanting slogans such as 'Peace against war’, ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadi, ‘Bijî Azadî' during the unauthorized march and 29 suspects, whose identity information was identified above, continued to participate in unlawful meeting and demonstration despite warnings. The offense attributed to these suspects is within the scope of Article 32/1 of the Law No. 2911 on Meetings and Demonstrations.”

The names targeted in the case are as follows: Abdullah Polat, Ahmet Istek, Ali Çoban, Bekir Karakeçili, Beritan Sayan, Cahide Udum, Emine Çetiner, Fayık Taşkaya, Hasan Yıldız, Hatice Göktepe, İsmail Kaplan, İsmail Karadağlı, Kelime Bali, Keskin Bayındır, Leyla Akgül, Lütfü Hazer, Muhammet Bektaş, Mahmut Binici, Mahmut Dağtekin, Mehmet Koşti, Mehmet Oğur, Mehmet Ferit Tamga, Mikail Gözek, Nergiz Çiğdem Karakeçili, Nurullah Kakız, Ömer Yıldırım, Selma Ateş Yılmaz, Sıtkı Dursun and Ulaş Çoban.