HKP lawyer Kerim Bütün tells 12punto: 'The decision is political'

12punto.com.tr 

Cenk BAŞBOĞAOĞLU

People's Liberation Party (HKP) Chairman Nurullah Efe Ankut was detained by police forces in an operation carried out during the night. His lawyer, Kerim Bütün, spoke to 12punto regarding the decision. 

HKP Chairman Nurullah Efe Ankut, who was detained under TCK 215 (Crime of Praising an Offense and an Offender), TCK 299 (Crime of Insulting the President), and TCK 301 (Crime of Denigrating the Turkish Nation, the State of the Republic of Turkey, and the Institutions and Organs of the State) due to the words, "Deniz, Mahir, and Hikmet Kıvılcımlı, whose comrade I am proud to be..." which he uttered during a press statement held in front of the courthouse, was referred for arrest "without following any procedural rules and without taking his statements at the police station and prosecutor's office stages," according to the People's Lawyers. 

Kerim Bütün, lawyer for HKP Chairman Nurullah Efe Ankut and a member of the Lawyers' Voice Initiative (ASİ), spoke to 12punto about the decision. 

'THE DECISION IS POLITICAL'

Bütün conveyed his criticisms of the decision as follows: "Deniz and Mahir, the two youth leaders of the history of revolutionary struggle, and Hikmet Kıvılcımlı cannot be criminalized. We proved this situation in the hearing held today. Existing judicial decisions also reveal this. We never, ever accept these statements directed at our client Nurullah Efe as accusations. Deniz, Mahir, and Hikmet Kıvılcımlı are the values of this people. Another of the accusations is insulting Erdoğan. Another is the allegation of denigrating judicial bodies. Each one lacks a legal basis. The investigation, detention, and request for arrest are political. The house arrest decision is also political." 

'IT WILL NOT MAKE US TAKE A STEP BACK'

Regarding the operations against the HKP, which have now become systematic, Bütün stated, "The People's Liberation Party carries all the crimes committed by the AKP to the judiciary and records every single crime. It carries out an effective struggle within the working class. But most importantly, we believe it is because it opposes the Greater Middle East Project (BOP) initiative launched by the 'APO/TAYYİP/BAHÇELİ' trio upon orders they received from the USA. It reveals a clear difference in this sense in the Turkish left. However, these investigations and prosecutions, as our chairman and client said, will not make us take a step back."

'WE WILL END THE RULE OF THE AKP-MHP BLOC'

Stating that there will be no step back, lawyer Kerim Bütün emphasized that they would not retreat with the words, "We will continue the struggle we have carried out until now without interruption. We will grow the struggle and end the rule of the fascist AKP-MHP bloc. We invite everyone to our struggle."