Armenia court set Atilla Çiçek and Hüseyin Yıldırım free on February 23 – public defender’s office

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS. The Public Defender’s Office released details from the criminal case regarding the two Kurdish persons Atilla Çiçek and Hüseyin Yıldırım.

Public Defender’s Office Deputy Director Tamara Baghdasaryan told ARMENPRESS that Atilla Çiçek and Hüseyin Yıldırım were arrested in August 2021 on suspicion of illegally crossing the border from Iran, illegal possession of weapons and ammunition and smuggling weapons and ammunition into Armenia.

“Atilla Çiçek and Hüseyin Yıldırım were sentenced to 7 years imprisonment by a court of first instance, which was overturned by a court of appeals based on a complaint filed by the public defender’s office. The court of appeals had taken into account the fact that although the defendants crossed the border armed, they did not resist [arrest],” Baghdasaryan said.

On February 23, 2022 the court decided to suspend the sentence and set probation for a three-year term. Thus, they were set free from the courtroom.

“They were on probation, they were supposed to check in with a respective service periodically and confirm their presence,” Baghdasaryan said.

Afterwards, the prosecution filed an appellate complaint, which, however, was turned down and the court verdict entered force.

“After the court verdict took effect they were no longer considered beneficiaries of the public defender’s office. We haven’t had any information about their fate since then,” Baghdasaryan said.

Speaking about the media reports alleging that Armenia extradited Atilla Çiçek and Hüseyin Yıldırım to Turkey, Baghdasaryan said that the extradition process implies certain processes, a court hearing, documents had to be submitted from the other country, and a court has to decide to approve or reject the motion. “In any case, the public defender’s office hasn’t received any application over this matter.”

On September 25, media reports emerged claiming that Armenia handed over two “HPG (PKK wing) guerrilla fighters” to Turkey. However, both the Armenian intelligence service and the justice ministry denied the reports, stating that they have not handed over the two mentioned individuals to Turkey.

Meanwhile, Turkish media claims that the Turkish intelligence agency conducted a “special operation” to arrest the two Kurds, and that they are already in Turkey facing charges of terrorism.