On March 19, 2020, revolutionaries from Turkey in their houses in Athens, Greece and at the Solidarity Association with Kurdish and Turkish Political Prisoners, which has been operating for 30 years, were raided in the morning by anti-terror police and Special Operations Police wielding long-barrelled rıfles.Our comrades were dragged along the ground, hit with gun butts, gas bombs were used on them, and they were detained under torture. Veterans of the death fast were dragged on the ground while handcuffed behind their backs. Twenty-six comrades were detained and 11 were arrested. Anti-terror police in Greece after the operation published photos seeking to present them as “suspect and terrorist” before the indictment was even prepared. Everything from computers in the association to personal money was taken.

The trial of 11 Turkish revolutionaries, who were arrested in the operation carried out by the Greek security units in cooperation with the Turkish National Intelligence Organization upon the pressure of the Turkish government started in the courtroom of the Koridallos women’s prison on July 2, 2021 at the Athens High Criminal Court.

However, this trial was no ordinary trial. This trial was a typical example of the practice of “enemy criminal law”, which we have seen in dozens of examples in Turkey, where all established rules of law are ignored, and which is carried out with political instructions.

What happened in this period, what violations of law occurred?

* In the first hearing held on July 2, the defendants wanted to come out with materials expressing their political identity, which is the main basis of the accusations, and to make their defense in this way, but this was not allowed and the hearing was suspended on July 7-8-9, without even bringing the defendants to the courtroom. Thus, the rights of defense of political prisoners on trial were usurped.
* Arbitrary practices and attacks on the detained defendants continued during the hearing, which continued on 7-8-9 July. An unfair and even hostile trial practice was put forward by violating the rights of the defendants regarding the trial, especially the right of defense.
* The court board that conducted the trial has behaved far from the image of an independent and impartial court since the beginning of the trial. Throughout the trial, the court continued to take a partial, biased and even hostile attitude towards the prisoners, the witnesses, and even the lawyers.
* During this period, the court board made the right of defense useless by ignoring the demands of the political prisoners on trial, limiting their right to speak and intervening constantly.
* The court committee constantly interfered to the statements of the witnesses and prevented them from speaking. It tried to get the answers it wanted by directing even the defense witnesses against the defendants. It made clear that it did not conduct an impartial trial by interfering with or obstructing the questions of the defendants’ lawyers towards the witnesses.
* Finally, on July 8, during the pause of the hearing, the police officers wearing masks and special uniforms attacked and tortured the defendants in the courtroom, tried to put them on the ground and put them in reverse handcuffs. The prisoners on trial were injured following this attack and torture. Sinan Oktay Özen, one of the defendants, got worse after a policeman kicked him in the chest and he was taken to the hospital.
* At the hearing held on 9 July, the defense lawyers did not attend the hearing, protesting the court’s attitude the day before. The political prisoners on trial, on the other hand, made a defense by describing the police attack and torture that took place the day before, and criticized the court’s attitude that allowed torture and ignored it.
* They also said that they would not continue the hearing under these conditions, both because of the arbitrary and hostile attitude of the court and because they did not have lawyers and sufficient number of translators. However, the court board tried to prevent and silence these defenses of the defendants by interfering constantly, and tried to listen to a witness by declaring that they would continue the trial under these conditions.
* Meanwhile, the defendants left the hall protesting this attitude of the court, saying that their rights of defense and fair trial were abolished, that they would not allow this, and that they would not bow to this arbitrary and hostile attitude of the court.
* Thereupon, the court board took a step back and gave up this attitude and suspended the hearing. After the break, the court adjourned the hearing to 09:00 a.m., on Tuesday, July 13.

Greece issued sentences of 20 years in prison for each of the 11 revolutionaries. These sentences were issued at the request of the AKP power in Turkey, and the US and EU imperialists.

Turkey’s Interior Minister, Suleyman Soylu, had made an admission that this operation was carried out at their request. The Trial Chamber has issued a decision confirming his word.

From the very beginning of the trial, the Trial Chamber overruled all requests, all demands, and objections made by us and our lawyers regarding the indictment. At the same time, all requests and proposals made by the prosecutor in the case were accepted without any objection by the Trial Chamber. Our defense speeches and the pleadings of our lawyers were not listened to and were frequently interrupted and obstructed.

On our arrival and return to the courtroom, as well as in the courtroom itself, we were subjected to attacks and torture by the police, all of which were done on the orders of the Trial Chamber.

In fact, during all this time, actually there was no lawsuit. As a result of the collaboration with the fascist government in Turkey, the wishes and orders of the New Democracy Party (Néa Dimokratía) government were carried out. These were orders to condemn the revolutionary struggle.

The US and EU imperialists, the fascist power in Turkey, and the oligarchy in Greece have united to attack Marxist-Leninist ideology and socialism. What they are trying to impose on us is a change of ideology. What they are trying to condemn is the revolutionary struggle.

Passing sentences of 20 years on all revolutionaries, from 20-year-olds to 70-year-olds, cannot be explained, by any legal norms. This is injustice and arbitrariness.

The court issued its decision, taking as its starting point the fantasies of a prosecutor. Of course, there can be no question of our accepting this injustice.

The decision of a court that points to the “victory sign” depicted with fingers as proof of membership in the DHKP-C is not legitimate. Everyone must expose this court decision and this injustice.