Eleven Kurds sentenced following riots at a Turkish children’s festival
Keystone-SDA
A Swiss court has sentenced 11 men for rioting at a Turkish Children’s Festival in Basel in 2022.
The court handed down suspended prison sentences in the majority of cases. Three further defendants were acquitted.
With one exception, the 11 men were convicted of both assault and breach of the peace. The Basel-City Criminal Court handed down mostly suspended prison sentences of between nine and 23 months.
Two of the 11 men received partially suspended prison sentences. They were sentenced to 34 and 36 months respectively, of which they must serve six and eight months respectively in prison.
The court did not impose expulsion orders. Some of the convictions also included simple assault and attempted grievous bodily harm.
The court found it proven that the 11 men were responsible for the riots at the Turkish children’s festival on Basel’s Marktplatz.
“Not only did they bring the Kurdish-Turkish conflict to Basel, but they also carried it out violently in the open street,” said the judge when delivering the verdict. He described it as an orgy of violence. Around 200 videos and photographs were used as evidence.
The three acquittals were granted because the court found it proven that the three men had only arrived at the scene after the riots had taken place. The court acquitted all the defendants of the charges of causing public alarm and criminal damage.
During questioning at the main hearing in June, most of the defendants stated that they had fled Turkey for political reasons and had sought asylum in Switzerland. However, they denied having been actively involved with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) or made no statements on the matter.
The men, aged between 26 and 40, live in various cantons. The prosecution accused them of having verbally abused and threatened Turkish revellers on May 8, 2022 and of having injured several people.
This included assault with an umbrella and a baking tray, as well as with their fists.
+ How we produce English news
Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist.
