The motion submitted by the Green Party MPs demanding that the Vienna City Council advocate for the release of the "Kobanê prisoners" and take a clear stand against human rights violations in Turkey was unanimously adopted.
Berivan Aslan, Heidemarie Sequenz and Nikolaus Kunrath, Green Party MPs in the Vienna State Parliament, submitted a motion to the Vienna City Council to "condemn Turkish arbitrary justice and support democratic rights in Turkey" against the heavy sentences imposed on politicians by the Turkish state. The motion was unanimously adopted by the council.
In the motion, it was pointed out that the recent events in Turkey, especially the Kobanê Trial, in which many opposition figures, including former co-chairs of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), were sentenced to heavy prison sentences, are a clear violation of the rule of law and the principles of democracy. "The politically motivated Kobanê trial violates the rule of law and shows the complete arbitrariness of the Erdoğan regime and the instrumentalisation of the judiciary by the political power," the motion said.
Noting that writers, journalists, human rights activists and lawyers in Turkey are also accused and prosecuted for allegedly engaging in "terrorist" activities, the motion said: "For example, writer Aslı Erdoğan is facing a new trial. Finally, Austrian citizen Mehmet Ali Çankaya was arrested in Turkey. Freelance journalist Ruşen Takva, who has been reporting on human rights violations committed by the military in south-eastern Turkey, has also been affected. In addition to many well-known figures such as Deniz Yücel, Can Dündar or Pınar Selek, thousands of people in Turkey are affected."
"It is our moral duty to take a stand against this arbitrary justice and to show solidarity with the victimised opposition members and activists in Turkey", stated the motion, which “was submitted by Green Party members Berivan Aslan, Heidemarie Sequenz and Nikolaus Kunrath in accordance with Article 27 (4) of the Vienna City Council's Rules of Procedure.”
The motion, which was unanimously adopted by the Austrian Social Democratic Party, the Austrian People's Party, the New Austria and Liberal Forum, the Austrian Freedom Party and the Greens in the Council, stated: "The Vienna City Council expresses its solidarity with the political prisoners in Turkey and calls on the Federal Minister for European and International Affairs to advocate for their release and to take a clear stand against these human rights violations."
