Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 25 June 2019

Criticism as Turkey puts 16 on trial for anti-govt protests

By ZEYNEP BILGINSOY Kavala’s arrest in Novem-
Associated Press ber 2017 was internation-
ISTANBUL (AP) — Prominent ally condemned. The Eu-
philanthropist Osman Ka- ropean Union questioned
vala and 15 others went whether the Turkish judicia-
on trial in Turkey Monday ry adhered to international
accused of organizing standards after the indict-
anti-government protests ment was announced in
in 2013, with defendants February.
and rights groups calling The 657-page indictment
the charges baseless and cites hundreds of inter-
aimed at silencing civil so- cepted telephone con-
ciety activities. versations from the defen-
The prosecutor claims the dants as well as their travels
defendants, many of them abroad and social media
active in civil society, “at- posts. The defendants are
tempted to overthrow the also accused of numerous
government” of then-Prime other charges, including
Minister Recep Tayyip Er- damaging property and
dogan, through organizing damaging places of wor-
and financing an “upris- ship and cemeteries.
ing.” The charge carries a Human Rights Watch called
life sentence. Erdogan is the charges “bogus,” say-
now Turkey’s president. Turkish soldiers stand outside the court in a prison complex where the trial of prominent ing the indictment does
Protests began in 2013 to philanthropist Osman Kavala and 15 others started, while people arrive, in Silivri, outside Istanbul, not explain how the de-
protect the small Gezi Park Monday, June 24, 2019. fendants planned an upris-
in central Istanbul from Associated Press ing. The group said the aim
development but quickly months. ing the protests with Soros’ in numerous cities, without of the trial was to “silence
transformed into wider anti- In his first court appearance backing. central organizing. and punish the defendants
government demonstra- Monday, Kavala said there Kavala, the founder of an “I’m no different than the for their legitimate and en-
tions across Turkey. Police was no evidence against organization that focuses hundreds of thousands of tirely peaceful civic activi-
used tear gas and water him to substantiate the on cultural and artistic proj- people who conducted ties and work.”
cannons to disperse mostly charges that he planned ects for peace and dia- peaceful activities during Since a failed coup in 2016,
peaceful protesters, lead- an uprising. The indictment logue, told the court his ac- the Gezi events and I re- activists, journalists and op-
ing to widespread criticism also claims that billionaire tivities in civil society have quest my release and ac- position lawmakers have
of how Turkish authorities philanthropist George So- been transparent and in- quittal,” he said. been caught up in the net
handled the protests. ros masterminded the Gezi cluded engaging with the Aksakoglu, the Turkey rep- of a widespread crack-
Among the 16 are Kavala, protests, but does not list government. resentative of Dutch phil- down by the Turkish gov-
in pre-trial detention for 20 him as a suspect. Kavala argued, based on anthropic Bernard van Leer ernment that initially began
months, and Yigit Aksako- Erdogan is among the 746 academic and human Foundation, also demand- against the network of a
glu, who works for an early complainants on the in- rights research, that the ed his release, saying the U.S.-based cleric accused
childhood education foun- dictment and has publicly protests were varied indi- charges against him were of masterminding the at-
dation, detained for eight accused Kavala of financ- vidual and collective acts imagined. tempted overthrow.q

Sudan’s military sidesteps proposal for civilian rule

By HUSSEIN MALLA the protesters forced the future sovereign council
SAMY MAGDY military to remove the au- — or that the FDFC might
Associated Press tocrat Omar al-Bashir from form the government. He
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — power. added that the transitional
Sudan’s military rulers re- But on Monday, the power- legislative body “should
fused to agree on Monday ful deputy head of the mili- be (formed) through elec-
to the Ethiopian proposal tary council, Gen. Moham- tions.”
for a power-sharing agree- med Hamdan Dagalo, said In a press conference on
ment with the country’s the mission of the Ethiopian Sunday, the military coun-
pro-democracy move- envoy, Mahmoud Dirir, was cil had said the previous
ment, a top general said, to pave the way for resum- deals with the protest lead-
in comments that could ing talks with the FDFC, “not ers were invalid, given the
worsen a volatile standoff to offer proposals for solu- changes on the ground in
with the protesters. tions.” Sudan since talks collapsed
Ethiopia has led diplomatic “The mission of the Ethio- in May.
efforts to bring the military Shamseddine Kabbashi, spokesperson for the governing Sudan pian mediator was limited A spokesman for the
and protest leaders back Military Council, makes statements to the press at the Presidential to prepare the parties for council, Gen. Shams Ed-
to the negotiating table, Palace in Khartoum, Sudan, on Sunday, June 23, 2019. negotiations. We did not din Kabashi, said: “The cir-
after a deadly crackdown Associated Press agree on shares in the sov- cumstances in which we
by security forces killed at deaths. day before. It centered ereign council. We do not reached such understand-
least 128 people across the Protest leaders, represent- on forming a transitional accept prescriptions,” he ings ... are not the same.”
country earlier this month, ed by the Forces for Dec- government — a so-called said. Previously, both sides had
according to protest orga- laration of Freedom and “sovereign council” — with Dagalo said the ruling mili- agreed on an interim leg-
nizers. Sudanese authorities Change, had accepted a civilian majority to rule Su- tary council did not oppose islative body and Cabinet
offered a lower toll of 61 the Ethiopian initiative the dan, over two months after civilian participation in the formed by the protesters. q