The indictment against DTP mayors in Roj-TV case

The New Anatolian with AP / Ankara
22 November 2006


The 56 mayors from the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) sent a letter to Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen last year asking him to keep Roj-TV, which is based in Denmark, on the air despite a statement from the Turkish government asserting that the broadcaster is a mouthpiece for the " terrorist" organization.

The indictment against the mayors seeks sentences ranging from seven-and-a-half to 15 years in prison under Article 220/7 of the revised Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which stipulates the same sentences for people who deliberately aid and abet terrorist groups as group members.

In the first hearing two months ago, the mayors defended the contents of the letter.

In yesterday's hearing, Diyarbakir's Dur District Mayor Abdullah Demirbas, when asked about his appearance on Roj-TV where he was described as a "mayor from Kurdistan," said that he doesn't remember such a reference.

The Danish premier has strongly criticized the indictment against the mayors. "I find it rather shocking ... that because you write a letter to me, you are being accused of violating the law," the premier said on Danish radio in June.