Tag Archive for 'extradition'

Pogrom against Turkish political refugees in Greece continues

Published on February 18, 2014 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , .

In a press conference on February 18th, organised by the Solidarity Committee for Political Prisoners in Turkey and Kurdistan, the advocates Aleka Zorbala and John Rachiotis spoke about the recent arrest of four more Turkish refugees on February 10th in Gkyzi area in Athens.

The arrest is a continuance of a pogrom the Greek government carries out since all over 2013 against Turkish activists who live as refugees in Greece and during which more than 16 persons have already been prosecuted. The Turkish refugees in Greece have been exposed to threats, house searches kidnappings from the street, arrests, torture and arrests. As the lawyers stated during the press conference in case of a extradition to Turkey the lives of their clients are in immediate danger.
Continue reading ‘Pogrom against Turkish political refugees in Greece continues’

press release group of lawyers: No Political Refugee must be extradited to Turkey

Published on April 16, 2013 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , , .


SOLIDARITY WITH THE TURKISH AND KURDISH POLITICAL REFUGEES AND ACTIVISTS THAT ARE
AT IMMINENT RISK OF EXTRADITION TO TURKEY

NO POLITICAL REFUGEE MUST BE EXTRADITED TO TURKEY

19 APRIL 2013 AT AREIOS PAGOS (09:30 am) – SUPREME COURT ON THE APPLICATIONS FOR THE EXTRADITION OF ZEKI GORBUZ AND COMERT BULENT AYTUNC

The deterioration in the protection of civil, political and social rights and freedoms has been continuing under the current Greek Government, partially due to the economic crisis. Against this background, and following Prime Minister Samaras’ visit to Ankara and the announcement of closer co-operation between the Greek and the Turkish Government, the Greek authorities, which in the past only reluctantly enacted international arrest warrants against Turkish refugees, have over the past two months engaged in a real witch hunt against all those wanted for their political actions in Turkey.
Pursuant to this governmental agreement, the Greek authorities have so far arrested five refugees with a view to extradite them. Their detention continues until today. At least one of them has been deprived of his liberty since 12 February, more than two months. Continue reading ‘press release group of lawyers: No Political Refugee must be extradited to Turkey’

Greece Becomes Outpost in Turkey’s “Anti-Terror” Campaign

Published on April 13, 2013 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , .

by Apostolis Fotiadis, published in IPS

ATHENS, Apr 13 2013 (IPS) – Zeki Gorbuz, a Turkish asylum seeker in Greece, who was arrested on Feb. 12, remains detained today due to an international warrant that was transmitted by Turkish authorities to Greece just one day before his asylum interview. Turkish media were quick to report the arrest, describing Gorbuz as a radical leftist and regional leader of the Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLCP), which has been designated as a terrorist organisation by the Turkish government.

On the same day that Gorbuz was detained, Bulent Aytunc Comert, who arrived in Greece as an asylum seeker in 2002, was also arrested. His request for asylum was approved in 2003 but was never cleared by the ministry of police.

Branded by Turkish authorities as a member of the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), Comert is a fugitive. He was imprisoned in the notorious solitary confinement units known as the “White Cells” on what he says was a fabricated murder charge.

“Members of several civil society organisations and student groups [in Turkey] have been put into prison, often on flimsy evidence and based on the anti-terrorism law that can be used to charge pretty much any form of dissent as terrorism.”

Continue reading ‘Greece Becomes Outpost in Turkey’s “Anti-Terror” Campaign’

Political refugees in danger of extradition to Turkey

Published on April 11, 2013 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , .

Since the last visit of Samaras in Ankara, the Greek authorities have started a witch hunt against Turkish political refugees in Greece. In the beginning of 2013 four asylum seekers living for many years in Greece were arrested following the activation of extradition signals via interpol. All of the arrested are victims of torture and some of them show health problems pointing to their longterm hunger strikes they held inside Turkish prisons. The final decision on their extradition will be taken in April. One of the four is held in prison until the decision. It is very likely that more extradition proceedings will be activated against Turkish refugees in Greece.

read: announcement of the group of lawyers for the rights of migrants and refugees, Athens (in greek)

POLITICAL REFUGEES IN GREECE: VICTIMS OF AN ANTI-DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE
by the movement for freedom and democratic rights

In the recent weeks, Turkish and Kurdish political refugees in Greece are faced with constant prosecutions (arrests, searches at their homes, detentions when they protest in front of the Turkish Embassy). Turkey is activating several extradiction signals, even for refugees who have been in Greece for over a decade, and whose asylum requests are still pending due to the substantially inefficient system of asylum granting. Continue reading ‘Political refugees in danger of extradition to Turkey’