Erdal is a revolutionary, member of the Marxist-Leninist People’s Front Movement in Turkey. For many years he has been part of the fight against imperialism and oligarchy in his country. That is why he was originally arrested and tortured.

In Turkish prisons he suffered several mass attacks on prisoners by the fascist oligarchy. He participated in the hunger strike of political prisoners to the death (Death Fast) to protest against the isolation prisons. During this hunger strike, he underwent forced medical intervention, so he lost his memory and became ill with Verniche-Corsacof syndrome. Later he was released from prison and, with the help of his comrades, he emigrated to Belgium, where he searched for political asylum and could be cured by making suitable therapies for his serious illness. After the first improvements, he continued as a member of the People’s Front in Belgium. Again, in the winter of 2016, he was arrested in Poland in connection with a red bulletin published by INTERPOL at the request of the fascist oligarchy in Turkey. After several months of struggle, hunger strike and protests, he was released from Polish prison and returned to Belgium.

Current Case

In Belgium, at the end of 2017, he was arrested by the police at the request of the German imperialists. At the end of December of the same year he was extradited to Germany, following a decision by the Belgian Court. A few months later, a case was opened against him, accusing him of “belonging to a clandestine organisation.”

On June 27th, 2019 in the courthouse in Hamburg, Germany the final court hearing on the process against Erdal was held. Although the prosecutor in the case wanted a three-year and six-month sentence, the judge sentenced Erdal to 5 years in prison. All lawyers following the trial against Gökoğlu were firmly convinced that the case file was empty. An example of what has been the fact is that the public prosecutor, after finding no proof of guilt for a crime committed under German law, fell into a situation of total impasse and began to use the letters sent to and from Erdal. This verdict by the German court is not based on any legal norms, it is a political verdict. He was eventually sent back to a Belgian prison where he will finish is sentence.