BELGIUM: HIGHEST COURT QUASHES DHKP-C VERDICT

UNCLAS BRUSSELS 001324 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PTER BE TU SUBJECT: BELGIUM: HIGHEST COURT QUASHES DHKP-C VERDICT ¶1. Belgium's highest court, the Cour de Cassation, on April 19 quashed the November 7 ruling of the Ghent Appellate Court imposing stiffer sentences on three convicted DHKP-C militants, and confirming the sentences handed down by a lower court in Bruges in February 2006 to four other DHKP-C militants. The seven were convicted of belonging to a criminal and terrorist organization, arms possession, and the use of forged documents. The Court ordered the immediate release of four of the convicts currently serving time. Belgium's government has not commented on what steps it will or can take next. ¶2. Last year, the Ghent Appellate Court identified Dursun Karatas, the secretary-general of the DHKP-C in Belgium, as belonging to a criminal and terrorist organization and sentenced him to an additional year in prison. Musa Asoglu was identified as a leader of a terrorist organization and the Ghent appeals judge imposed seven years imprisonment, instead of the six years he had received from the court in Bruges. Bahar Kimyongur, the DHKP-C spokesman for Belgium, was given five years. ¶3. The Ghent Appellate Court judge upheld the verdicts concerning the other defendants, who received four years each. Fehriye Erdal's sentence remained unchanged. Erdal managed to escape before her sentence could be imposed and is still on the run. ¶4. In rendering its verdict, the Cour de Cassation argued that the February 2006 appointment of a judge from another jurisdiction was a serious procedural error. This mistake prejudiced the court's ruling on the case. FOX