The New Anatolian / Ankara
June 9 2006
After 8 years, sociologist Selek in the clear
Charges were dropped yesterday against sociologist Pinar Selek over a
deadly blast in Istanbul’s spice market eight years ago.
Selek, along with 15 others, has been accused of being responsible
for a blast that claimed the lives of seven people and injured 127
others in 1998. She was charged under article 125 of the TCK and
faced a life sentence.
The court ruled yesterday to drop charges of aiding and abetting the
terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) against Selek, due to the
statute of limitations. The court also dropped charges related to the
blast, as the reason for the explosion is unknown.
Charges against Selek and other defendants were widely debated when
the indictment was released and an expert report argued that the
explosion was caused, not by a bomb, but by a spark by a liquid
petroleum gas cylinder in a nearby snack booth, but this argument, as
well as the theory about Selek, failed to be supported by sufficient
evidence.
The court also ruled for 36 years of imprisonment for three other
suspects on charges of murder on behalf of the PKK.
Selek was also claimed to be a close aide to Abdullah Ocalan, leader
of the PKK, and both the media and non-governmental organizations
divided into two camps supporting and condemning her.
Her case received great local and international scrutiny as her
supporters claim that charges against her were filed due to her
reluctance to cooperate with the police regarding the names of the
PKK members she interviewed in the course of academic research.
Selek also claimed that she has been subject to intense torture
during questioning by the police.
Arabaslik: Court acquits reporter of ‘interference in judiciary’
charges
Also yesterday, a court dropped two cases of a journalist charged
with interfering in the judicial process in two articles over a
controversial Armenian conference held last year amidst severe
protests from ultranationalist groups.
Journalist Murat Belge was tried upon a complaint from Kemal
Kerincsiz, head of the Grand Lawyers Association, a group well-known
for its efforts against journalists and intellectual figures
advocating minority rights.
Along with Belge, Kerincsiz filed complaints with the Bagcilar Public
Prosecutor’s Office against four other journalists on similar
charges, but the court released the four on grounds that the
complaint didn’t come in time, and separated the file of Belge.
The five journalists were facing prison terms of up to 10 years
apiece.
Belge was also among those supporting Selek.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress