No. 32/2023
The 5a-th Senate for Criminal Matters (State Security Senate [Staatsschutzsenat]) of the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Frankfurt/Main today sentenced 59-year-old Abdullah Ö. to a term of imprisonment of four years and five months for participation as a member in the foreign terrorist organization PKK.
According to the oral argument of the reasons for the verdict given by the Senate after 43 days of trial starting on April 11, 2022 the Senate essentially found the following:
The defendant operated as full-time cadre of the foreign terrorist organization Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) since August 2019. In this capacity, he handled the typical administrative duties as an area manager and as a regional leader of the organization. In particular, these consisted in the coordination of organisational and personnel matters as well as propaganda activities for the PKK-region “Hesse“ (PKK-areas Frankfurt/M., Gießen and Mainz) and the PKK-area “Stuttgart“. He also exerted decisive influence for the organization in the PKK-region “Saarland“, consisting of PKK-areas “Darmstadt”, “Mannheim” and “Saarbrücken”. He issued instructions to cadres and activists subject to his leadership and supervised the implementation of his orders.
The defendant also participated in the organization and implementation of propaganda events and gatherings. Moreover, he oversaw the collection of „donations“ to the PKK and made contact to potential „donators“. This way, he collected „donations“ for the PKK amounting more than €900,000 from June 2020 to April 2021. The defendant was obliged to report to the so-called European leadership of the organization and had to implement their orders.
By this conduct, according to the findings of the Senate, the defendant was guilty of membership in a foreign terrorist organization. In the context of sentencing, the Senate considered, among other facts, that the defendant - immediately prior to the acts subject to consideration by the Senate - was sentenced to three years of imprisonment in France for intentional participation in activities of a terrorist organization and financing of terrorism. The Senate also considered of weight the period of almost two years, during which the defendant exercised membership participation partly as a member of the highest cadre level.
The defendant was arrested on May 11, 2021 and has been in pre-trial dentention since.
The judgment is not final yet. The defendant, his defense lawyers and the Federal Public Prosecutor General (Generalbundesanwalt) may appeal against the judgment to the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH). The Senate ordered the continuation of detention.
Higher Regional Court Frankfurt/Main, judgment May 11, 2023, 5a-2 StE 13/21 - 6 -1/22