Legal Petition Seeks Reversal of Seyid Riza's 1937 Death Sentence
Lawyer Cihan Söylemez petitions Dersim prosecutors to overturn the 1937 death sentences of Seyid Riza and his companions, citing constitutional violations.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - A lawyer in Dersim, Northern Kurdistan, has submitted a formal petition seeking to overturn the 1937 death sentences imposed on Seyid Riza and his companions, arguing that the judgments violated Türkiye's constitutional and legal principles and continue to demand judicial review nearly nine decades later.
Cihan Söylemez filed the application with the Dersim Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, requesting a legal procedure known as "reversal in the interest of law" to invalidate the rulings that led to the executions of the Kurdish leader and other prominent figures from Dersim.
Speaking outside the courthouse, Söylemez said the application was intended to challenge the legal foundations of the original trial, rather than merely revisit its historical circumstances.
"The application we have submitted for reversal in the interest of law is fundamentally aimed at nullifying the rulings of the 1937 trial," he said, arguing that the decisions contradicted fundamental legal standards in force at the time.
A Challenge to the 1937 Judgments
Seyid Riza, a leader associated with the Dersim uprising, and his companions were tried in 1937. Söylemez said the death sentences were issued on Nov. 14 that year and carried out the following day, Nov. 15.
He contended that both the verdict and its implementation breached the Turkish Republic's 1924 Constitution. In his view, those alleged violations remain legally relevant despite the passage of time.
Söylemez also invoked the European Convention on Human Rights and case law from the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that the continuing consequences of judgments handed down by extraordinary courts can create an obligation for states to provide remedies.
His interpretation is the basis of the petition; no new judicial ruling invalidating the 1937 convictions was announced.
Request for Ministry of Justice Action
The lawyer asked Türkiye's Ministry of Justice to initiate the relevant procedure through the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office at the Court of Cassation, known as Yargıtay, so that the judgments could be subjected to review and ultimately overturned.
Söylemez said the request covers not only Seyid Riza but also the other Dersim figures sentenced and executed alongside him.
The petition seeks to reopen the legal questions surrounding a defining episode in Dersim's history through Türkiye's existing judicial mechanisms. It comes as the anniversary of the November 1937 executions approaches.
The filing marks a new legal challenge to the historical verdicts, but the authorities have not announced whether the request will be accepted or advanced for review.