One more 'show trial' in Turkey

A first court hearing in Erzurum, Turkey, has released a trade unionist on bail but decided that he will still have to face charges for ‘terrorist offences’ that have been widely rejected worldwide. Nejat Sezginer, Sivas branch president of the BTS transport trade union, which is affiliated to the ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation), had been detained since February 2009 before being released on 17 September 2009 on condition that he returns to court on 5th November. He faces trumped-up charges of ‘assisting and supporting a terrorist organisation’, and was arrested with Onder Dogan, a branch president of the Egitim-Sen teachers’ union. In total, 14 trade unionists have been indicted and Onder Dogan remains in prison. The men, along with their trade unions, are certain that the authorities are using false accusations of terrorism to block normal, democratic trade union activities. In the early morning of Thursday 28 May 2009 the Turkish gendarmerie and police raided the headquarters of KESK (Turkish confederation of public employees’ unions) in Ankara and KESK local branch offices in Izmir , Istanbul , Van and Manisa. The president of KESK attended today’s hearing and stressed that it is part of an attack on progressive trade unions in Turkey . In May 2009 more than 30 trade unionists, including Hasan Soysal, a member of the BTS Izmir branch, were arrested in Izmir and other cities accused of terrorist activities. Speaking from the court house in Erzurum , ITF Inland Transport Secretary Mac Urata said: “Of course we’re glad to see Nejat Sezginer freed for now, but the fact that the trials continue is deeply worrying. All the information points to this being a politically-motivated show trial. The charges are a nonsense and centre on the activities of students who used an office belonging to the Egitim-Sen that was also used by the BTS.” “Many ITF unions work with students and it is nothing special. There have been cases before in other countries where when railway workers went on strike they were branded as terrorists. If Turkey wants to join the EU, these practices must end. The charges must be dropped immediately.”