The hearing on 13 April has resulted with the release of 10 prisoners.
After 6 months in prison, 17 prisoners, who were arrested in Istanbul during the police raids on 21 September, were taken to the 9th Heavy Penal Court of Istanbul in Besiktas. They entered in the court by making the signs of victory with their hands and shouting the slogans "Atilim has never remained silent; will never remain silent!", " ESP has never remained silent; will never remain silent!" and "The complots never worked and will never work!" Many representatives from different democratic mass organisations, political parties and human rights organisations, international delegations and the prisoners' relatives observed the hearing.
At the hearing, 10 September prisoners defended their socialist identities and the legitimacy of the organisations that they are affiliated to; and they expressed that the murderers of Hrant Dink, Suleyman Yeter and Kemal Türkler should be judged instead of them.
The court decided the release of 10 revolutionaries, among them Cicek Otlu, president of EKD (Labouring Women's Association), Halil Dinc, news coordinator of the radio Ozgur, Sinan Gercek, worker of the same radio, Cem Dinc, general president of the dockyard workers' union Limter-Is , Zafer Tektas, general secretary of the same union and Ozge Kelekci, correspondent of the newspaper Atilim. The case against them will continue.
7 prisoners, among them Figen Yuksekdag, representative of ESP (Socialist Platform of the Oppressed), Ayse Yumli Yeter, general president of Tekstil-Sen , Emin Orhan, editor of the newspaper Dayanisma, were sent back to prison.
The next hearing will take place on 7 August 2007.