Grûp Yorûm

Sending a letter to bianet from Van Prison, Şahinkaya has written that arrested Grup Yorum music band members have been on a hunger strike for the last 102 days and reminded the public about their demands.

Making a series of demands, including the removal of the ban on their concerts, Grup Yorum music band has announced that they will go on a hunger strike as of May 17.

The police have conducted an operation against the İdil Cultural Center in Okmeydanı, İstanbul, where Grup Yorum music band has been performing its activities. The center has been raided for at least six times over the last two years.

Musicians Gökçek and Varan have been released by the court in the case of Grup Yorum. Eight members of the band are still arrested, six of them are in the wanted terrorists list.

Saying that “They ban our folk songs to us”, Grup Yorum’s imprisoned member Sultan Gökçek has written that the trial of 10 musicians will start on October 3.

Telling that they were battered in their cells for asking for their books, Grup Yorum’s imprisoned member Gökçek has filed a criminal complaint against the prison guards.

Kept under arrest in Şakran, two Grup Yorum band members have told that they were battered in their cells and filed a complaint of “We don’t have life safety”.

France-based news site Euronews has reported that Grup Yorum band members, who are on the “wanted” list released by Ministry of Interior, have applied for asylum in France.

The ECtHR has given its ruling in the case of Sarıtaş and Geyik, who faced prison sentence for the slogan, “Revolutionary prisoners are our honor”. Turkey has been sentenced to pay an immaterial compensation of 10 thousand Euro. The attorney Yıldırım has claimed that it is a precedent decision.

Police have raided İdil Cultural Center in which Grup Yorum band carries out its musical works, detained nine people. Properties and instruments have been damaged during the police search.

Musician Joan Baez has sent a message of solidarity for the music band “Grup Yorum”, some of whose members were arrested yesterday, and said “I'll tell your story when I sing”.

Seven of Grup Yorum band members and a worker working at a cultural center construction during raid have been arrested. Gas masks in the cultural center, green shirts and magazines were shown as evidence by judgeship’s decision of arrest.