Musician Yılmaz Çelik, whose home had been raided by the police following his concert at the Tunceli Cultural Directorate Conference Hall on 8 December 2019, had been detained on charges of “being a member of a terrorist organization” and “spreading terrorist propaganda”.
In today’s trial at the 2nd Assize Court of Tunceli, the detainee Çelik rejected the charges against him. The panel of judges released Çelik on judicial control and postponed the trial.
According to the story by Pir News Agency, the indictment contained statements by an informant about Yılmaz Çelik, and Çelik’s social media posts including photos of İbrahim Kaypakkaya and Mahir Çayan, and the fact that he had performed the türkü (a type of folk song) called Ali Haydar Ölmez (Ali Haydar Couldn’t Die) were admitted as evidence for crime.
Regarding the indictment penned about Yılmaz Çelik, Attorney Hüseyin Aygün stated the following: “Musician Yılmaz Çelik entered the new year 2020 in jail. According to the indictment released on the last day of the year, his crime was really playing the saz (a musical instrument). Commemorating Ali Haydar Yıldız, İbrahim Kaypakkaya, and Mahir Çayan, who were tortured and extrajudicially executed 50 years ago, and singing the Vartinik Lament (Vartinik was where they were executed), were deemed criminal acts.”