Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07FRANKFURT220
2007-01-17 08:46:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Frankfurt
Cable title:  

FURTHER STEPS AGAINST PKK: RAIDS, ARREST, PRISON

Tags:  PTER ASEC KTFN KCRM GM TU 
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VZCZCXYZ0003
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHFT #0220 0170846
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 170846Z JAN 07
FM AMCONSUL FRANKFURT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9118
INFO RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA IMMEDIATE 1490
C O N F I D E N T I A L FRANKFURT 000220 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/17/2017
TAGS: PTER ASEC KTFN KCRM GM TU
SUBJECT: FURTHER STEPS AGAINST PKK: RAIDS, ARREST, PRISON
TERM


Classified By: DPO RICHARD AKER, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L FRANKFURT 000220

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/17/2017
TAGS: PTER ASEC KTFN KCRM GM TU
SUBJECT: FURTHER STEPS AGAINST PKK: RAIDS, ARREST, PRISON
TERM


Classified By: DPO RICHARD AKER, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: German efforts against the PKK were again
apparent this past week in southwest Germany with targeted
raids, an arrest of one suspected PKK leader, and the
sentencing of another to two years in prison. END SUMMARY.

Anti-PKK Raids and an Arrest
--------------


2. (SBU) Law enforcement officials from Baden-Wuerttemberg
(B-W) took the lead in the January 10 raids against alleged
PKK activists in the southern and western German states of
Baden-Wuerttemberg, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland, and Bavaria.
As reported in the press, 25 residences, two offices, and
five clubs were searched. State Office of Criminal
Investigation (LKA) officials confirm the numbers and report
items obtained during the raids (including computers, cash,
phones, and bank statements) are being evaluated for
evidentiary value. German police targeted the raids on
residences of suspected fund raisers for the outlawed PKK.
The accused activists allegedly collected funds for the
organization from Kurds residing in Germany.


3. (C) The Stuttgart Public Prosecutor,s Office and the B-W
LKA reported January 12 that a 42-year-old Turkish national
was arrested in connection with the raids. The man is
suspected of being an "area manager" for the PKK in the
Stuttgart area over the past several months. The LKA has
given us no further details, but contacts at one of the State
Office for the Protection of the Constitution (LfV) offices
informed us that German officials are in a process of
"digesting" what they have so far and examining the value of
this arrest.


Frankfurt Court Sentences Former PKK Leader
--------------


4. (SBU) Separately, the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court
announced on January 16 the sentence of a 51-year-old Turkish
national identified only as "Hasan K." to two years and three
months in prison for membership in a terrorist organization.
According to the court, Hasan had been arrested in January
2006 in Vienna on a warrant from 1998 for his leadership role
in terrorist activities of the PKK in Germany in the mid
1990s. Dr. Wolfgang Weber, press spokesman for the court,
and one of his deputies told us that Hasan maintained his
innocence throughout the process, showing no emotion at the
pronouncement of the sentence and immediately announced his
intention to appeal the decision. Weber also explained that
Hasan's relatively light sentence was due to the passage of
time since Hasan's membership in the PKK, and because the
statute of limitations had run out in 2003 on the
criminal/terrorist acts he allegedly committed in Germany.


5. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Berlin.

POWELL