Four of the activists detained during OPCW protest remain in custody

For months, Kurdish organisations have been demanding an independent investigation into Turkey’s use of chemical weapons in Kurdistan. Numerous protests have taken place in front of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague to reiterate this demand. In the media and in politics, the accusations are consistently ignored. In order to break the general silence, the Kurdish youth movement again called on the OPCW to act on 3 December. A large number of activists from various European countries travelled to the scene of the action, and some of them even managed to get into the organisation’s building. The police detained 44 people, 39 of whom were released after three days in custody.

The remaining five activists were brought before a court on Monday. The Dutch prosecution accuses Sinan E., Abdullah G., Serhat E., Hakan H. and Hugo G. of damage to public property, violence against the police, violation of the assembly law and trespassing. The court ordered pre-trial detention for four activists. The next court hearing is on 23 February. Serhat E. is to be deported to France because his asylum procedure is ongoing there.

As lawyer Hüseyin Aktaş told YÖP, the arrests and the expulsion decision are politically motivated: “The court makes decisions under pressure from EU countries. Kurdish organisations have appealed to the OPCW several times and demanded an investigation into the chemical weapons. This demand has been ignored. Therefore, the youths have tried again to make their voices heard. The arrest warrants are intended to criminalise the activists. However, there has been no attack on police officers or damage to public property. The purpose is obviously to punish the Kurdish movement.”