Twelve distributors for the shuttered Azadiya Welat, which was Turkey's only Kurdish-language newspaper, appeared before a Diyarbakır court on 2 February in four separate trials where the distributors stand accused of "willingly aiding a terrorist organization."
The prosecutor demands between 7.5 to 15 years for the 12 newspaper distributors, who handed out copies of Azadiya Welat, which was shut down by a Cabinet decree on 29 October 2016.
On 28 August 2016, police raided the offices of Azadiya Welat, stating that they were investigating an anonymous tip-off, and detained 24 distributors of the newspaper. Charges were filed against 12 of them and the 2 February hearing was their first court appearance. The Diyarbakır 9th and 10th High Criminal Courts are hearing their cases in the form of four trials with three suspects in each.
The distributors on trial are Hamdullah Bayram, Hayat Yılmaz, Mehmet Emin Kaya, Pusat Bulut, Mecrum Tekol, Ziyan Karahan, Ercan Yeltaş, Esra Solin Dal, Mehmet Aydın , Mehmet Emin Akgün , Cengiz Aslan and Ahmet Kızılay. Aslan and Kızılay didn't attend the hearing.
The media workers submitted statements to the court, saying that Azadiya Welat was a perfectly legal newspaper continuously monitored by press prosecutors. "A legal newspaper is being made to look like it was illegal," a lawyer said, asking for the acquittal of their clients.
The panel of judges asked the prosecutor to submit his final opinion on the case. The case was adjourned until 28 March.
