Munich court enforces ban on PKK leader Ocalan’s photos in demonstrations

A German court has banned displaying photos of PKK leader at demonstrations, citing concerns over supporting activities of the terrorist organization

The judges of the Higher Regional Court of Munich have banned the use of the terrorist organization PKK’s leader Ocalan’s photographs in demonstrations.

The court justified its decision by stating that in associations organized according to the leader principle, “respect for the personality of the leader is of great importance for internal cohesion and external image.”

With this, the terrorism trial against the former president of the Kon-Med association of Kurds in Germany has commenced at the Higher Regional Court in Munich. 

According to the indictment, Kon-Med is regarded as the umbrella organization of the nationwide structures of the PKK terrorist organization, which is banned in Germany.

The Munich public prosecutor’s office accuses the 59-year-old, who was co-chairman of Kon-Med from 2018 to 2021, of being a member of a terrorist organization abroad.

The indictment alleges that he “espouses the ideology of the terrorist organization PKK, which has been banned in Germany under the law on associations since Nov. 22, 1993” and is “firmly rooted in the Kurdish world and is in close contact with PKK activists and leading PKK cadres in Germany, Europe and worldwide.”

According to the prosecution, until his arrest at the end of 2022, the accused was “responsible for the Nuremberg PKK region and also for the Bavarian PKK region.”

 He collected and administered donations, organized events, and “PKK propaganda.”

The court has set 16 hearing dates until March.

Source: KURIER