Imprisoned Turkish revolutionaries request solidarity

In September 2006 the pro-imperialist Turkish government arrested 23 revolutionaries, holding them for months before finally bringing heavy charges against them. The 23 are to go to trial on Oct. 26. Below are excerpts from two letters from the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLCP) about the events and asking for international solidarity.

No to the conviction of the communists!

The date of the trial at which 23 communists and revolutionaries, who have been imprisoned since September 2006 and who have not seen any court or judge so far, are going to be sentenced has finally been set. The first hearing is going to be held on Oct. 26 at the 10th Heavy Penalty Court in Besiktas, Istanbul.

With the new anti-terror law launched in June last year, the fascist dictatorship thought that it could create a deep silence in Turkey and Northern Kurdistan. This law seems to be insufficient, so that a new law giving the police much more rights was introduced quickly. The dictatorship’s aim is the oppression of the Kurdish national struggle by using its denial and annihilation policy and the liquidation of the revolutionary and communist movement. In order to reach this aim, it continuously created new “concepts” but never got any success.

While on the one hand the fascist dictatorship continues with its attacks on our party and revolutionary organisations, socialist newspapers and writers, on the other hand it tries to take the communists, revolutionary and socialist journalists and writers, imprisoned since Sept. 10, 2006, to court using fake “indictments” in order to sentence them.

The verdicts until now were not what it had expected. In Diyarbakir and some other towns, the arrested were released. On April 13, a group of the imprisoned in Istanbul was released while for the rest of the group, the trial was postponed to Aug. 7. Now it’s time for the trial of the 23 revolutionaries and communists who have been imprisoned after the attacks on Sept. 8-12. They have been behind bars without knowing with what they’re being charged. Their files are closed for their lawyers, but open for the police, so that the police are free to create “evidence.”

In the indictment, the fascist dictatorship demands several times lifelong sentences for 13 people and different sentences between 10.5 and 45 years prison for 10 people.

These are the names of the prisoners charged with several times lifelong sentences according to the indictment:

The names of those charged with sentences of 10.5 and 45 years prison: Erkan Salduz, Turac Solak, Elif Almakca, Hatice Bolat, Fatma Siner, Hasan Ozan, Arzu Torun, Soner Cicek, Fethiye Ok & Bilgi Tagac.

The fascist dictatorship tries to blame these prisoners for altogether 296 actions that happened between 1994 and 2006.

These kinds of indictments and courts have not been rare in the history of the international revolutionary and communist movements. In order to maintain and sustain its system, the bourgeoisie tortured, killed or imprisoned revolutionaries and communists, who do not demand anything apart from freedom, democracy and socialism and who therefore struggle for that. But every time, it was the bourgeoisie itself that was sentenced because of its actions.

It was the bourgeoisie that was demanded to be sentenced. At the Leipzig Trial, it was Dimitrov who sentenced German fascism. In South Africa, the release of Mandela, who was imprisoned for 27 years by the apartheid system, does not have any other meaning than the sentencing of this racist system.

Comrades, we experienced yet during the former trials what great impact international solidarity has and that it becomes a means to put oppression on the court. These were good examples which made us feel proud. We have informed you about these developments. Now it is time to judge the fascist dictatorship with this trial once again and to destroy its plans. We want to let you know that we believe that we will also win this struggle with strong international solidarity. We also call on you to participate in the trial on Oct. 26 and to be with us in this struggle.

MLCP
Turkey/Northern Kurdistan
International Bureau
www.mlkp.info