The four members of the band Koma Denge Asiti were sentenced this week to 3-9 years in prison by the National Security Court of Istanbul. Their crime: performing in the Kurdish language, an act viewed by the court as “aiding and abetting the PKK”, or Kurdistan Workers’ Party. The decision has been sent to the Supreme Court for review and a final verdict should come in a matter of days. Undercover police officers were present at a wedding at which the band was playing; though none speak Kurdish, their testimony that they heard Kurdish words such as ‘Biji Apo’ and ‘Kurdistan’ was enough to decide the fate of the band members.
