The first hearing of the case against Onur Gencer, who murdered Deniz Poyraz during his armed attack on the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) İzmir Provincial Organization building, was held at the İzmir 6th High Criminal Court. Lawyers from all over the country, representatives of trade unions, women and non-governmental organizations attended the hearing. MPs from the Danish Parliament, Lars Aslan Rasmussen and Soren Sondergaard were also among those monitoring the hearing.

 

Danish Social Democratic Party MP Lars Aslan Rasmussen spoke to Mesopotamia Agency (MA) about his observations of the hearing.

 

'THERE WERE SOME VERY CHAOTIC SCENES' 

 

Stating that they came from the Danish Parliament as two delegates to monitor Poyraz's hearing, Rasmussen said that they had requested to follow some other hearings in Turkey before, but they could not attend because they could not get permission. “There were a lot of chaotic scenes inside,” Rasmussen said and added, "The defendant looked very relaxed. There were too many gendermeries and police inside. But there were a lot of people there in solidarity as well."

 

'LAWYERS WERE PREVENTED FROM SPEAKING'

 

Referring to the fact that the court board announced its interim decision without letting the lawyers speak, Rasmussen said: "I have monitored thousands of hearings before. I have never seen lawyers being prevented from speaking. Lawyers have the right to speak as long as they want. This can not be prevented."

 

'WE WILL TELL WHAT WE SAW AT THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL'

 

Expressing that they are planning to come and observe the next hearing, Rasmussen said: "We will continue to follow up this case. There are around 10 political parties in Danish Parliament and they all have different political views. There are represantatives from Turkey in European Council too. We will discuss this case in the council and bring the case before the European Council."