The Kurdish militant Kenan Ayaz has been sentenced to 4 years and 3 months imprisonment by the Hanseatic High District Court in Hamburg. At the court hearing on Monday 2 September, Kenan Ayaz completed his own plea and heard his sentence from the three-judge court on the basis of the only charge against him, that of membership of a terrorist organisation. It will be recalled that the Prosecution had recommended a 4.5-year prison sentence for Kenan Ayaz.
Now, the drafting and the reasoning of the decision by the Court is expected, which requires a period of 2-3 months, while it is now up to diplomatic manipulations to implement the conditions that the Larnaca District Court had included in the decision of his extradition to Germany. In other words, the Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs of Germany and Cyprus will have to arrange the return of Kenan Ayaz to our island to serve his sentence in Cypriot prisons.
They are therefore all being held accountable to a recognised political refugee and protected by the Republic of Cyprus, as he has long been deemed to be under threat from the Turkish dictatorial regime and its agents throughout Europe. As is becoming clearer than ever, the issue is highly political and the Cypriot government itself must protect this man, who has been convicted without any particular evidence against him.
Monday’s court proceedings were attended by Kurds and Germans in solidarity with Kenan and held a peaceful protest outside the court building demanding the release of the Kurdish fighter.