Diyarbakır court releases 48 KCK suspects in main case

DİYARBAKIR – Doğan News Agency

Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) members celebrated the releases with a selfie, which BDP Deputy Group Head Pervin Buldan shared via Twitter.

A Diyarbakır court has released 48 of 91 arrested suspects in the main case against the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), the urban wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The Diyarbakır 2nd High Criminal Court took over the case from the 6th High Criminal Court after specially authorized courts were abolished in February.

Some 38 of the suspects were released because of already having served lengthy detentions, as they had all stayed in prison for more than five years throughout the case. The other 10 suspects were released based on the evidence against them and the period of detention already served.

All 48 were set to be released late April 12 from prisons in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır.

In a March 16 statement, the KCK had announced that it was no longer recognizing the Turkish government as an addressee for the PKK’s jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan in the ongoing peace process. It accused the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of not taking “the necessary steps toward democratization.”