EYLEM SONBAHAR
A court in Istanbul has ruled to keep Ahmet Saymadi, a central committee member of the Socialist Reconstitution Party (SYKP), in pretrial detention during the first hearing of his trial on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization.” Saymadi, who was detained in February as part of a broader investigation into the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK), faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
The first hearing of the case took place at the 26th High Criminal Court in Istanbul, where Saymadi was brought from the Marmara High-Security Closed Penal Institution under gendarmerie escort. He rejected the charges in his defense statement, calling the indictment contradictory and politically motivated.
Saymadi was arrested on February 21 following police raids targeting HDK, a coalition of leftist groups, labor unions and pro-Kurdish political movements. The investigation is part of a wider crackdown on political opposition and civil society in Turkey, where authorities frequently prosecute individuals under broad anti-terror laws for alleged ties to Kurdish militant groups, especially the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Turkey, the EU, and the U.S. classify as a terrorist organization.
"The indictment claims that HDK was founded in 2011 and later directed by a terrorist organization. Yet the alleged crime date is listed as January 3, 2023, while most of the evidence refers to activities from 2014, 2015 and 2016," Saymadi said. He criticized the prosecution for referencing a 2019 ruling by the Court of Cassation about the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) and applying it to HDK retroactively. "HDK has held thousands of events, panels, and congresses under the state’s knowledge since 2011. The indictment scrambles dates, organizations, legal rulings and facts, creating confusion that makes it difficult for us to even defend ourselves."
Saymadi argued that his political activities were protected under the rights to freedom of expression and association. “If HDK was indeed an illegal organization, why did it take 14 years to open a case?” he asked. “It’s clear that the events and dates listed in the indictment are floating in a legal vacuum and most have no connection to me whatsoever.”
Attorney Tora Pekin emphasized the weak evidentiary basis of the case, stating: “We cannot establish any causal link between the charges and the contents of the indictment. The supposed evidence is clearly speculative. Thirteen years have passed since the alleged events. Such a delayed detention cannot be considered proportionate.”
Defense attorneys Gökay Işık and Hüseyin Çobanoğlu also requested Saymadi’s release, citing a lack of concrete evidence and the extended time lapse.
Despite the defense, the prosecutor presented the final opinion, calling for Saymadi’s conviction and continued detention pending the outcome of the trial. After a brief recess, the court ruled in favor of the prosecution, deciding to keep Saymadi in custody.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for July 4.
