DHKP-C CONVICTIONS OVERTURNED BUT BELGIANS REMAIN

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRUSSELS 001408 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/26/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER BE SUBJECT: DHKP-C CONVICTIONS OVERTURNED BUT BELGIANS REMAIN FOCUSED REF: BRUSSELS 1324 Classified By: POLCOUNS TED ANDREWS. REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (SBU) Belgium's highest court, the Cour de Cassation (Supreme Court),on April 19 quashed the November 2006 ruling of the Ghent Appellate Court that imposed stiffer sentences on three convicted members of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C),and reaffirmed the sentences handed down by a lower court in Bruges in February 2006 to four other DHKP-C members (reftel). 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. (Three of those convicted, including Fehriye Erdal, the most celebrated defendant, were never located.) In rendering its verdict, the Cour de Cassation argued that the February 2006 appointment of a judge from another jurisdiction to oversee the trial in Bruges was a serious procedural error that prejudiced the lower court's ruling on the case. The court did not rule on arguments made by the defendants' lawyers seeking to strike down Belgium's 2003 antiterrorism legislation. Embassy sources indicate it will likely take about a year to complete the reviews of the case files and other preparations before the case can be re-tried. ¶2. (SBU) According to Robin Libert, Director for Analysis at the Surete (Belgium's intelligence service),the female judge who would have normally heard the case in Bruges last year had been uncomfortable at the prospect of presiding over this case and wanted an experienced male judge alongside her in court to oversee the proceedings. To accommodate her, the judicial authorities transferred a judge from another jurisdiction to replace her. Justice Minister Laurette Onkelinx sharply criticized the female judge, calling the situation "shocking" and questioning why her superiors would submit to her request. ¶3. (SBU) The original 2006 ruling against the DHKP-C was a milestone for Belgium in that it was the second case in which the stricter 2003 antiterrorism act was used to convict defendants for membership in a terrorist organization. (Members of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group or GICM were convicted on the same grounds a month earlier.) In both the GICM and DHKP-C cases, the prosecutors argued that mere membership in a terrorist organization was a violation of the law, even if the defendants had not committed a crime on Belgian territory. ¶4. (U) In the meantime, the ruling has caused some political fallout for Onkelinx. The Flemish opposition party Christian Democrats (CD&V) is holding her "politically accountable" and called the ruling another example of a badly functioning justice system. One media commentator said "the case against Erdal and company is slowly growing into a farce." On the other side of the spectrum are sympathizers of Belgian national Bahar Kimyoungur, the DHKP-C spokesman in Belgium who was one of those released. A Green party federal parliamentarian called Kimyoungur a one time political prisoner whose release had renewed the parliamentarian's confidence in Belgium's justice system. ¶5. (C) Comment: The ruling by the Supreme Court is deeply disappointing to the Belgian Federal Prosecutors Office, which had eagerly awaited the Court of Appeals decision in November upholding the convictions in order to plan a similar legal strategy against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and other terrorist groups in Belgium. The good news is that relevant Belgian officials are making the right noises about what they will do next. Surete's Libert told embassy that Belgium's Federal Prosecutor, Johan Demulle, remained committed to a re-trial of the DHKP-C defendants and to pursuing a similar case against the PKK. Justice Minister Onkelinx has reiterated her support for Belgium's antiterrorism legislation, and commented that "saying one does not need antiterrorism legislation in Belgium is pure nonsense." FOX .