LEYLA ZANA TRIAL - LIKE DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 001155 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2005 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM TU SUBJECT: LEYLA ZANA TRIAL - LIKE DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN REF: ANKARA 316 (U) Classified by Polcouns John Kunstadter; E.O. 12958 reasons 1.5 b and d. ¶1. (U) An Ankara State Security Court February 20 ruled, for the 11th consecutive time, against a defense request to release Leyla Zana and three other Kurdish former MPs for the duration of their retrial. The decision came after lead defense attorney Yusuf Alatas argued, as he has in past hearings, that the court should be compelled to release the defendants because their original conviction was ruled improper by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Alatas further argued that the speeches that led to the charges against his clients could no longer be considered criminal under recent EU-related legislative reforms. ¶2. (U) The defendants -- Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, Orhan Dogan, and Selim Sadak -- are former members of the pro-Kurdish independence Democracy Party. They were convicted in a controversial 1994 trial of membership in an illegal organization (the PKK). Their retrial, which began March 2003, is the first retrial under recent reform legislation allowing convicts who win their appeal to the ECHR to receive a new trial in a Turkish court. At each of the 11 hearings of the case, the court has refused a defense request to release the defendants. ¶3. (U) After the February 20 hearing, Joost Lajendik, co-president of the Turkey-European Parliament Joint Parliamentary Commission, told reporters on the courthouse steps that he was disappointed with the court's decision against release. Calling on Turkish judges and prosecutors to act in accordance with the spirit of GOT legislative reform, Lajendik said the Turkish judiciary must choose whether to adhere to the old Turkey ("the Kemalist straightjacket" in the words of one contact who watched the press briefing with us) or join the new Turkey. Lajendik added that the GOT bears the equally important responsibility to create the conditions under which the judiciary will choose the new Turkey. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶4. (C) This trial has taken on a "Groundhog Day" quality, as the defense repeats its critique of the court's conduct and the court continues to deny release. Very little of what takes place in the courtroom bears any direct relation to the charges against the defendants, so it is therefore difficult to estimate how much longer the trial will last. However, at the conclusion of this past session the defense pointedly stated that it has nothing left to say, so a verdict may be near. We believe the court will convict, but however the judges rule the losing side will appeal. A final decision is unlikely to be reached before the sentences of the defendants run out in 2005. EDELMAN