IMPRISONED KURDISH MPS IN TURKEY

Early day motion 1169, tabled 8 May 2003 by Ann Clwyd (Labour). Signed by 65 members.

That this House notes that despite the judgement of the European Court of Human Rights on 17th July 2001, which found that Leyla Zana and three other Kurdish members of the Turkish Parliament, imprisoned for the last nine years, had been denied a fair trial under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, they remain in prison; regrets the repeated delaying of their retrial by the State Security Court in Ankara from 28th March to 25th April, and now to 23rd May; urges the Government of Turkey to either release the defendants immediately, or ensure that their retrial is carried out without delay and in a manner fully consistent with the articles of the European Convention on Human Rights; and calls upon Her Majesty's Government and the EU to remind the Turkish Government of its obligations under international conventions.

Signatures by party: Labour 39, Liberal Democrat 12, Labour/Co-operative 5, Plaid Cymru 3, Scottish National Party 3, Conservative 1, DUP 1, UUP 1.