FINALIZED CASES
A-Cases Resulted in Acquittal
1. A trial was launched against Mr.Akın Birdal, President of the HRA due to the speech he made on Yüksel Street on 17 June in Ankara. He was acquitted.
2. A trial was launched against Mr.Akın Birdal, President of the HRA; Mr.Hüsnu Öndül , former Secretary General of the HRA; Mr.Sedat Aslantaş, former Chairman of Diyarbakır Branch of the HRA, and Mr.Erol Anar, in connection with the HRA’s 1993 Regional Report titled “A Cross-Section of the Burnt-down villages”, by Ankara State Security Court (SSC). They were acquitted.
3. A trial was launched against Mr.Akın Birdal due to a written statement of him in the book titled “Present to Emil Galip Sandalcı “, published by the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey. He was acquitted.
4. A trial was launched against 17 members of the Executive Board of the HRA by the Ankara SSC, due to a special edition of the bulletin titled “The Sole Solution is the Peace”. They were acquitted.
5. A trial was launched against Mr.Akın Birdal by Ankara SSC, because of the speech he made on 10 December 1996, on the occasion of Human Rights Week. Prison terms between 1 and 3 years were sought for Mr.Birdal. The final trial was held on 30 December 1997 and Mr.Birdal was eventually acquitted.
6. Ankara SSC launched a trial against Mr.Birdal due to the speech he made in the wake of the Peace Journey in G61 town on 2 September 1997. Mr.Birdal was acquitted.
7. A court action launched against Mr. Birdal due to a speech he made on Flash TV. He was acquitted on 9 February 1999.
8. A trial was launched against Mr.Birdal along with the Executive Board members of the HRA for organising a meeting on Peace and Politics during the Human Rights Week. The trial was held on the Court of First Instance No:4. Closure of the Association’s Headquarters and conviction of Executive Board members were asked. The hearing which was held on 28 February 1998 was resulted in acquittal.
9. A trial was launched against Mr.Birdal, President of the Human Rights Association; Mr. Ufuk Uras, President of the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP); Mr.Yavuz Onen, President of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey and Mr.A1unet Turk, Deputy Chairman of People’s Democracy Party (HADEP), with due regard for being opposed to the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations No: 2911. This court action was brought against these people on the occasion of a meeting organized by political parties and NGOs in KlzI1ay Square on 13 April 1997. The first hearing of the trial was held on 4 November 1997. Mr. Birdal was acquitted at the trial held on 12 December 1997.
B- Cases Resulted in Imprisonment Sentences
1.Akin Birdal was sentenced to 1 year in prison by Konya SSC under article 312 of Turkish Penal Code, due to the speech he made in a meeting on the occasion of the “1995 Peace Week” held in Mersin. The General Board of Criminal Departments of the Court of Appeals upheld the SSe’s decision on 20 April 1999.
2. Ankara SSC launched a trial against Mr. Akin Birdal under article 312 of Turkish Penal Code, due to the speech the made on the occasion of “1 September, World Peace Day” in 1996′. The case was finalized on 21.10.1997. Akin Birdal was sentenced to 1 year in prison and fined TL. 420,000. The General Board of Criminal Departments of the Court of Appeals upheld the SSe’s decision on 27 October 1998. Because of the aforementioned two court actions Akin Birdal was sent to Ankara Central Prison to serve his prison sentences that would have lasted almost ten months. However, his prison sentence was suspended until 23th March, 1999 and he was released based on health reasons on 25 September 1999.
3. In 1995, Mr.Birdal was sentenced to 3 months in prison due to a poster relating to a Campaign Against Disappearances. The sentence was converted to a tine of TL. 450.000.
PENDING CASES A.
Individual Cases
1. Prison terms between one and three years are being sought for Mr.Birdal by the Istanbul SSC, under article 8/1 of Anti-Terror Law, because of a speech he made in a symposium in February 1996.
2. Prison terms between one and three years are being sought for Mr.Birdal, under article 312 of Turkish Penal Code, due to a speech he made on the occasion of “Peace Week” in Istanbul in 1995.
3. A trial was launched against Mr,Akın Birdal by the Court of First Instance because of – meeting organized for the Campaign called “One Million Signatures the Peace”. The trial is continuing.
4. Diyarbakır SSC launched a trial against Mr.Akın Birdal due to a speech he made on the occasion of the establishment the Human Rights Association’s Mardin Branch. The trial is continuing.
5. A court action was launched against Mr.Birdal in October 1997 regarding his attendance at the Rome Peace Conference. The first hearing was held on 21 April 1998 at the Ankara SSe. The trial is continuing.
6. A trial was launched against Mr.Birdal concerning his mission to Northern Iraq to release soldiers captured by the PKK. The Chief Prosecutor of the SSC appealed the decision. The case is pending before the Court of Appeals.
7. A court case was opened in the Criminal Court in Beyoglu in Istanbul, for alleged violation of Article 159 of the Turkish Penal Code after the weekly newsmagazine Aydmhk published a news article claiming that Mr. Birdal had told a Norwegian newspaper that “soldiers” had laundered money in banks and financial institutions in Turkey and Northern Cyprus made from illegal drug trafficking -although Mr. Birdal never made such a statement.
B Judicial Cases
1. A prosecution was launched against Mr. Birdal concerning the HABITAT II
2.A trial was launched against Mr. Birdal concerning his speech which was published in a newspaper (Cumhuriyet) on 14 February 1996. This speech was made in the wake of the mission to Guflükonak to investigate the incident which took place in February 1996. Prison terms between 1 and 6 years are being sought by the Heavy Penal Court under article 159 of the Turkish Penal Code.
3. A court action was launched against the HRA by the Court of First Instance on 19 December 1996. Closure of the HRA is being asked on the grounds that one of the articles (article 5: Applications for being a member of the HRA can be refused without stating any reason.) of the HRA’s by-law which was already altered during the HRA’s General Assembly in 1996. Trial process is continuing
(Reminder! Cases against the HRA’s Branches’ Chairmen and/or Executive Board Members are not included in this list.)