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01 March 2008 /International Bulletin / No: 67
The 23 communists who had been imprisoned after being arrested in police raids in 8 different cities on September 8-12, 2006 were taken to court on February 28 for a second hearing.
The communist prisoners, of whom 13 are wanted to be sentenced to several times lifelong with the claim of being members and leaders of the MLCP and 10 of them to different sentences between 10,5 and 45 years of prison, entered the court house at Istanbul-Besiktas shouting slogans of saluting the dockyard strike at Tuzla and condemning the colonial and occupational land operation of the Turkish state in South Kurdistan.
On February 28 the communist prisoners condemned the colonialist fascist dictatorship, the barbaric capitalist order once again from their own tribunal. In their speeches they mentioned the resistance at the dockyards of Tuzla, the struggles of the workers and labourers against the neoliberal and privatization attacks as well as the occupier land operation of the colonialist Turkish army in Southern Kurdistan and thus they have shown that even the isolation cells of the F-Typ prisons cannot part the connection of the revolutionaries with the struggle.
Seyfi Polat of the communist prisoners, who had said at the hearing on October 26, 2007 "I am proud to defend the MLCP", declared at this trial that this system could not be defended: "This system is stained with blood. The workers` blood flows like water for the sake of accumulation of capital at Tuzla." Polat continued and said about the land operation carried out in South Kurdistan: "The guerrilla has been fighting for its dignity and freedom, but the people`s children that were put on uniforms are sent to death for the existence of the fascist regime". He also added: "We as the MLCP consider the liberation struggle of the Kurdish people in the North, South, East and West, in all parts of Kurdistan, as just and legitimised. What is terror in fact is denying the existence of such a big people, assimilating and annihilating it. We call on our Turkish people to take the hand of the Kurdish people hold out for peace and brotherhood and fight for peace. The freedom of Turkish workers and labourers can only exist together with the freedom of the Kurdish people."
Ali Hidir Polat said in his speech: "Is fatherland the death of 18 dockyard workers within 7 months? Is it the murder of 6,422 workers because of accidents at the dockyards in the last 7 years or the 13,283 workers having become disabled because of accidents? Is fatherland the explosion at Davutpasa? Or is it the 3000 Tekel workers who were punched with truncheoons when resisting against the privatisation of TEKEL company? Or maybe the 207 peasants who will be effected by this sale?" and asked the question "What is the fatherland without the people?"
Atilim newspaper chief editor Ibrahim Cicek declared that this case is a case of conspiracy whose one end is hold by Dogan Media Holding and the other end by the dockyard bosses` organisation GISBIR . While Dogan Media Holding is censoring the newspaper Atilim, GISBIR tries to hinder the organisation of the workers by fighting Limter-Is .
Arzu Torun of the prisoners said that she had been sexually abused by a policemen when she was taken to the Heavy Penalty Court for the hearing on October 16, 2007 waiting in the court house`s corridor for the second hearing and filed charges. Soner Cicek told about the conditions in the f-type isolation prisons and declared that the prisoners demand the application of the Minister of Justice`s decree to ensure the gathering of 10 prisoners for 10 hours a week.
The third hearing will take place on June 6-7, 2008.International solidarity continues
The praxis of the international solidarity, which developed in the time of the September attacks of the fascist dictatorship, continued also at this court hearing. Friendly organisations from different countries greet the communist prisoners with solidarity messages.
The Committee to Defend Political Prisoners Fighting for Socialism from Russia said in its statement: "We send our fraternal greetings to the communist prisoners who are faced with the barbarities of fascist regime and yet openly declare their communist convictions. They are an inherent part of the world-wide struggle against reaction and imperialism, for progress and socialism."
The International Council for Friendship and Solidarity with Soviet People wrote in its protest letter to the Turkish government: "No matter how many jails you build and how many police force you recruit, you will always be outnumbered and proven wrong. You cannot imprison everyone! You cannot silence every voice! For every sentenced fighter tens and hundreds raise their fist and march onto you!"
The Party of the Committees to Support Resistance (CARC) from Italy, the Struggling Workers` Union and the Association for Proletarian Solidarity expressed their solidarity with the dockyard workers of Tuzla and the communists imprisoned. In the statement published, the attacks on the strike of the dockyard workers were condemned: "We want to make them and everybody know that their struggle is our struggle, because also in Italy, the more the crisis advances the more tens of workers are dying, while the so called left parties and the trade unions of the regime do nothing but crying when it's too late. Nothing unites us to politicians and trade unionists who pretend to be our defenders; all unites us to the workers who in Turkey and everywhere fight our same battle."
Red Help Committees from France informed in its statement published about the period of the conviction of the prisoners. In the statement it said that the prisoners must face "white torture" in the F Type prisons. Besides, the Turkish army's land operation in South Kurdistan was exposed, too. The statement ended with the following words: "No to the oppression against the revolutionary militants! Stop the military dictatorship in Turkey! Long live the armed resistance of the Kurdish and Turkish people!"
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