 Edip Gümüş, Cemal Tutar and Mehmet Varol, who were convicted by a local court for being leaders of the illegal fundamentalist organization, were released from jail Jan. 4, but they are still required by law to present themselves at a police station every day. |
Three convicted leaders of the illegal organization Hizbullah who were released from jail under a new law regulating arrest periods have gone missing, daily Radikal reported Wednesday, claiming the men likely fled to Iran or Lebanon.
Edip Gümüş, Cemal Tutar and Mehmet Varol, who were convicted by a local court for being leaders of the illegal fundamentalist organization, were released from jail Jan. 4, but they are still required by law to present themselves at a police station every day.
Though convicted by a local court, there is still an ongoing case against the three men at the Supreme Court of Appeals. They were freed from jail under a new law requiring the release of defendants whose cases have not been concluded within a period of 10 years.
Both police and intelligence officers are trying to track down the Hizbullah members, Radikal wrote.
Varol, who lives in the Southeast Anatolia province of Batman, has not reported to police for four days. “We can stay in jail for 1,000 years in the name of God. We will not run away,” he reportedly said after his release, following which he showed up at the police station for two days.
Gümüş and Tutar had informed authorities that they would reside in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır after their releases, but they have not reported to police there. Lawyers for the Hizbullah members said Gümüş and Tutar were not in Diyarbakır at the moment because they were paying visits, including ones to offer condolences, outside the city.
The chief prosecutor’s office in Batman said it only kept minutes on Varol’s disappearance and had sent the records to the Diyarbakır prosecutor’s office, which will decide the fate of all three men. According to the law, a person who goes to a police station to declare he was not missing after he was released from jail should be arrested again. But the situation is not certain for those released as a result of the new limits on arrest periods.
Hizbullah, unrelated to the Lebanese Hezbollah, is regarded as responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people during the mid-1990s, the worst years of the conflict between the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and Turkish government forces. Hizbullah came to prominence in the late 1980s in southeastern Turkey. Some experts say its aim is to destroy the secular order and spread “true Islam” throughout the country, by force if necessary. However, strong claims have surfaced that it was the state itself that established the organization to fight the PKK through illegal means, such as summary executions.
Edip Gümüş, Cemal Tutar and Mehmet Varol, who were convicted by a local court for being leaders of the illegal fundamentalist organization, were released from jail Jan. 4, but they are still required by law to present themselves at a police station every day.
Though convicted by a local court, there is still an ongoing case against the three men at the Supreme Court of Appeals. They were freed from jail under a new law requiring the release of defendants whose cases have not been concluded within a period of 10 years.
Both police and intelligence officers are trying to track down the Hizbullah members, Radikal wrote.
Varol, who lives in the Southeast Anatolia province of Batman, has not reported to police for four days. “We can stay in jail for 1,000 years in the name of God. We will not run away,” he reportedly said after his release, following which he showed up at the police station for two days.
Gümüş and Tutar had informed authorities that they would reside in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır after their releases, but they have not reported to police there. Lawyers for the Hizbullah members said Gümüş and Tutar were not in Diyarbakır at the moment because they were paying visits, including ones to offer condolences, outside the city.
The chief prosecutor’s office in Batman said it only kept minutes on Varol’s disappearance and had sent the records to the Diyarbakır prosecutor’s office, which will decide the fate of all three men. According to the law, a person who goes to a police station to declare he was not missing after he was released from jail should be arrested again. But the situation is not certain for those released as a result of the new limits on arrest periods.
Hizbullah, unrelated to the Lebanese Hezbollah, is regarded as responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people during the mid-1990s, the worst years of the conflict between the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and Turkish government forces. Hizbullah came to prominence in the late 1980s in southeastern Turkey. Some experts say its aim is to destroy the secular order and spread “true Islam” throughout the country, by force if necessary. However, strong claims have surfaced that it was the state itself that established the organization to fight the PKK through illegal means, such as summary executions.
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