
Turkey: Trial of Dr. Serdar Küni, Şırnak 2nd heavy penal court
Statement of International Delegation of Trial Monitors
(25.04.2017) [Cizre, Turkey] Dr. Serdar Küni, a medical doctor working in the Cizre office of Human Rights Foundation Turkey, was convicted of section 220/7 of the Turkish Penal Code, “aiding and abetting terrorist organizations”, on 24 April 2017 during the second hearing of his trial. The court sentenced Dr. Kuni to four years, two months imprisonment, but released him from prison pending his appeal. No written judgment to explain the ruling is yet available.
Our conclusions are that the trial proceedings ignored the most basic of international fair trial standards, and failed to take into account the arbitrary nature of the charges against Dr. Küni. Our principal concerns about the trial process are summarised below.