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
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