Gökay Çakır, Chairman of the Independent Maden İş Union, who protested in front of Yeni Anadolu Madencilik in the Soma district of Manisa, union executives and some union members were detained. Gökay Çakır, Chairman of the Independent Maden İş Union, and Engin Köse, one of the union executives, were released yesterday on the condition of a travel ban and judicial control. Today, Öncü Çetin, Volkan Çetin, Barış Altun and Mehmet Özdemir appeared before the judge at the Soma Courthouse. The court decided to release the trade unionists on the condition of an international ban and judicial control.
Adem Dadaklı, one of the executives of the Soma Independent Maden İş Union, made the following statement in front of the courthouse after the unionists were released:
“We, as managers, went to the private sector mine yesterday to make a press statement. As usual, the security forces blocked us and prevented us. We were detained and handcuffed. All of us, including my President, were detained. In fact, it is not us who should be detained, it is company executives and bosses who will be detained. Whenever we go to the struggle for rights, we come across security forces, gendarmerie and police. Wherever we go in Turkey, security forces stand before us. These handcuffs should not be put on us, but on the managers of the companies, on the bosses. I appeal to everyone, this justice must be done.”