FURTHER STEPS AGAINST PKK: RAIDS, ARREST, PRISON

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