Below are some of the cases which recently have been reported by Association for Freedom of Expression and Bianet:


Mêrxas Viyan: Court case
Charged with prison term of 13 years for playing a tambourine
In connection with a welcoming ceremony for the Peace and Democratic Solution Group that entered Turkey from Habur Border Gate on 19 October 2009, a march was organised, and the musician Mêrxas Viyan was drumming along while the group sang political slogans. In May 2010, Adana Public Prosecution Office deemed playing a tambourine in this way as a crime. A trial will begin in Adana High Criminal Court No. 8 on 17 June 2010.

In the same court case, Viyan along with a singer of MKM Music Band Koma Pel, and several others, have been charged of 'membership to the terrorist organisation PKK' and 'making propaganda for the organisation'.


Ferhat Tunç: (Yet another) court case
Charged with prison term of 15 years
According to a report from the Association for Freedom of Expression and Bianet, Diyarbakır Public Prosecutor wants singer Ferhat Tunç to be punished with a prison term of up to 15 years for a speech he made at a festival in August 2009. A trial will begin in June 2010 in Diyarbakır High Criminal Court.

The Public Prosecutor stated that when Eruh Council organised the First Eruh-Çirav Nature Culture and Arts Festival on 15 August 2009 — the anniversary of PKK’s first armed action — the event was organised on the calls of the terrorist organisation PKK.

“It is certain that the event was organised with the knowledge and demand of PKK,” stated the prosecutor who has examined the speech which Ferhat Tunç gave at the festival. Ferhat Tunç stands accused of ‘committing crime in the name of the organisation’ and ‘making propaganda for the terrorist organisation PKK’ although the prosecutor recognises that Ferhat Tunç is not part of the hierarchical structure of the organisation. Read more...


Halil Aksoy: Court case
Charged with prison term of 16 years
Halil Aksoy stands accused of “making propaganda for PKK/Kongra-Gel in his speech during the opening of Bursa Office, singing along a Kurdish song, and chanting slogans” in Bursa's Yıldırım District. The prosecutor has asked for 16 years' imprisonment.

Halil Aksoy was arrested as he went to Istanbul Security Centre to make a formal deposition in the court investigation against him. He was sent to Prosecution Office where a court put him in pre-trial confinement. Aksoy’s lawyers will appeal against this pre-trial confinement, reported the Association for Freedom of Expression.


Serhat Aydogan: Court case
At the opening of Peace and Democracy Party Bursa Yildirim District Office, musician Serhat Aydogan sang a kurdish song together with five party members. They were taken into custody, and later taken to court accused of “promoting the crime and the criminal and making propaganda of a terrorist group”. Serhat Aydogan was released and is going to be tried unarrested.


Halit Bilgiç: Song banned
In Eastern Turkey, a Kurdish song by musician Halit Bilgiç, entitled ‘You are my flower of freedom’ was banned by RTÜK, the Radio and Television Supreme Council, because of its lyrics which go:

“You are the son of the east
you are the fire of Newroz
you are the symbol of peace
and you are the flower of freedom”

RTÜK banned the song for “inciting youth and reminding of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan”.

Association for Freedom of Expression reported that the national Security Centre had written to Gün Radio and TV Broadcasting in Hakkari, Şırnak and Diyarbakır asking them not to broadcast the song. The letter noted that penal sanctions would follow if the song is played.

Halit Bilgiç is a Turkish citizen of Arabic origin who writes Kurdish music. He was born in Mardin and lives in Izmir.


Pınar Sağ and Mehmet Özcan: Court case
Charged with prison terms of one to five years
Singer Pınar Sağ and the wife of Turkish folk singer Arif Sağ made a formal disposal at Şişli Justice Hall about the claim that Pınar Sağ had praised the founder of TKP/ML-Tikko organisation İbrahim Kaypakkaya. Pınar Sağ and a local musician Mehmet Özcan are accused of saying “comrades of Kaypakkaya who stood up against the fascist power” at a rally in Tunceli before the 29 March local elections. Both have been charged with “praising the founder of a terrorist organisation, İbrahim Kaypakkaya” facing a possible sentence of up to between one and five years in prison. This was reported by the daily newspaper Sabah


Rojda Şenses: Court case
Charged with prison term of one year and eight months
In a court in Diyarbakır on 25 March 2010, the Kurdish singer Rojda Şenses was charged with one year and eight months imprisonment for ‘conducting propaganda for a terrorist organisation’ in two separate concerts.

Rojda Şenses testified in court in Istanbul on 11 February 2010. She has previously been invited to participate in a breakfast meeting by Prime Minister Erdoğan within the framework of the democratic expansion. Even so, she now received her sentence from Diyarbakır’s Special Authority High Criminal Court of one year each for having performed the song 'Heval Kamuran' in a concert at the 9th Diyarbakır Culture and Art Festival, as well as in another concert.

The sentence was later decreased to ten months served in prison for each count, totaling one year and eight months. Read more...


Adil Arslan: convicted and imprisoned
Sentenced to one year and three months in prison
In the first week of May 2010, Adil Arslan, a member of Batman Spring Cultural Centre, was charged with “attending illegal demonstrations and being among a group of people who chanted illegal slogans”. Diyarbakır High Criminal Court No. 4 condemned Arslan to a prison term of one year and three months under Article 7/2.


13 members of Bahar Cultural Centre: Prison term and ban
Banned from performing arts for one year, and sentenced to 10 months imprisonment each.

In Diyarbakır High Criminal Court No. 4 the 13 musicians and artists were charged with “violating the law on assembly and demonstrations”, and the court ruled that the artists and members of Bahar Cultural Centre (BKM) “cannot take part in any social and artistic events.” One musician has been in pre-trial confinement.
Members of BKM Music and Theatre Group are punished for having performed at the Batman Cultural Festival, 'Newroz', and for holding celebrations and press gatherings.

70 cases filed against 13 members of Bahar Cultural Centre over four years are pending at the moment, reported the Association for Freedom of Expression. Read more...


500 arrested
In 2009, 47 people were on trial in Turkey under the charges of “making propaganda for a terrorist organisation” or “exposing the identities of public officials fighting terrorism”. 23 people were convicted to a total of 58 years in prison for this, according to Association for Freedom of Expression.

According to SupportKurds.org, 500 Kurdish politicians, including the Democratic Society Party executives and members, have been arrested or detained since April 2009. The Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) is a succession party to the Democratic Society Party (DTP) which was banned by the Turkish authorities.

On 24 December 2009 alone, more than 80 people related to the the Peace and Democracy Party as well as human rights defenders and members of NGOs, were arrested across Turkey. Four days later, another 24 people were arrested in Van, and Batman, cities of the pre-dominantly Kurdish south-east of Turkey.