PKK members in France are on trial for collecting money from Kurds through blackmail
In the statement from the French National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office (Pnat) to the AA correspondent, it was noted that the hearings in the case, which began on April 4, at the Palace of Justice in Paris, in which the people were tried in issue on charges of “terrorist financing, blackmail, extortion and forced recruitment” continue.
Emphasizing that the trial will last until April 14, the statement recalled that an investigation was launched in June 2020 after a woman in France was kidnapped to join the PKK terrorist organization.
In the statement, it was indicated that the woman in question was kidnapped by the PKK terrorist organization to be taken to the mountains, and the identities of the two people involved in the incident were determined.
THEY COLLECTED TAXES, SAYING “TAXES FOR PKK”
Pointing out that during the investigation it was understood that between September 2020 and March 2021 it was understood that the Kurds in France were collecting tribute under the name of “tax” for the terrorist organization PKK, it was underlined that this situation was confirmed by the statements of many people from the Kurdish community in the country.
In the statement, it was emphasized that in the south of France, other Kurdish youths were forcibly detained through these individuals to create the hierarchical structure of the PKK terrorist organization.
THEY HAVE RAISED APPROXIMATELY 2 MILLION EUROS
The statement from the prosecution also stated that the amount of money that the PKK terrorist organization extorted from the Kurdish community residing in the Marseille and Draguignan regions between September 2020 and March 2021 was approximately 2 million euros.
It was reported that 4 of the 11 defendants, who were declared members of the terrorist organization’s mountain staff, were arrested, and 7 are under house arrest with electronic handcuffs or under judicial surveillance. In addition, it was shared that 1 person with an arrest warrant fled. (AA)