Ms. Yuksel Mutlu, who is the spokesperson of the Turkey Peace Assembly and a member of the Honorary Board of the Human Rights Association (IHD), and 21 administrators and members of the Confederation of Public Employees Trade Unions (KESK), were released on Saturday, 21 November 2009. They had been in prison since 1 June 2009.
A hearing was held before the 8th District High Criminal Court of İzmir on 19-20 November 2009. At the end of hearing it was clear that the accusations against Ms. Yuksel Mutlu and the KESK administrators and members did not have a legal basis. Furthermore, the investigation conducted by the gendarmerie had been unlawful and that the indictment contained unfounded claims against the KESK and some other NGO’s.
We would like to thank the following institutions and people for their solidarity during the hearing for two days: the administrators and members of KESK, Diyarbakir Bar Association, the Izmir branch of the Progressive Lawyers Association, the representative office of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey in Izmir, representatives of foreign and local institutions and the people who have been present at the court house during the hearing.
HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCCIATION