Turkey: Detainees remain in custody because there is no prosecutor available

Thirty people who were detained by Turkish troops on Thursday in Turkey's Kurdish-majority province of Mus will remain in custody till Monday because there was no available prosecutor on Friday and the prosecutor's office has been closed for the the weekend, Mezopotamya News Agency (MA) reported.

31 people including a lawyer were taken into custody when they protested against Turkish forces who prevented them from participating in the funeral procession for Mir Perwer (Mehmet Sirin Aydin), a Kurdish political refugee who was killed in an armed attack in Paris on 23 December.

Perwer's remains were buried in a procession attended only by his family members on Thursday in the village of Ewran (officially Yesilova), which was cordoned off by troops. The troops did not let the people who arrived in a convoy of cars enter the village and join the funeral.

The detainees, except for the lawyer who has been released, will be held in custody at least till Monday since there was no available lawyer at the location on Friday and as the prosecutor's office will be closed throughout the weekend, MA said.

A prosecutor is "expected to be dispatched on Monday from the neighboring city of Bitlis or Tatvan, MA added.

Kurdish political activists Emine Kara (Evin Goyi), Mir Perwer, and Kurdish migrant Abdurrahman Kizil were killed in an allegedly racist attack on 23 December by a gunman who targeted a Kurdish cultural center and nearby shops in the 10th arrondissement of the French capital.

As many Kurds implicate Turkish state agencies for complicity in the attack, Turkish authorities deny any involvement.