KURT JUDGMENT OF 25 MAY 1998 9 She had freely made statements to a Bismil notary on 6 January and 10 August 1995 (see paragraphs 22 and 24 above) in which she rejected the application to the Commission which the Diyarbakır Human Rights Association had presented in her name. No soldiers were around her when she made these statements, there was an interpreter present and her statements were read out to her before she fingerprinted them. 35. According to the Government, the applicant has been manipulated by the representatives of the Diyarbakır Human Rights Association who distorted the information which she gave them about the disappearance of her son into unfounded allegations that the soldiers, inter alia, slaughtered and ate the villagers’ livestock during the operation in the village, looted their goods and tortured the persons kept in the schoolyard (see paragraph 32 above). These and other serious allegations were later shown to be fabrications and the applicant has herself denied that she made them. She had never been put under pressure by the authorities not to attend the delegates’ hearing in Ankara. In fact, she had been minded not to attend since she was anxious to discontinue the application. It was in fact her lawyers who put pressure on her to appear since they discovered that she in fact did not want to attend. 36. As to the prosecution of the applicant’s lawyer, Mahmut Şakar, the Government state that he has been instrumental in the manipulation of the application to the Commission and has exploited the Convention system for propaganda purposes. The Government’s decision to take proceedings against him was justified. C. Materials submitted by the applicant and the Government to the Commission in support of their respective assertions 37. In the proceedings before the Commission the applicant and the Government submitted a number of statements which she had made between 24 December 1993 and 7 February 1996 to the Diyarbakır Human Rights Association, the Bismil public prosecutor, the gendarmes, the Principal Public Prosecutor’s office at Diyarbakır and to the notary in Bismil. The applicant also submitted official documents concerning the inquiry into the conduct of her lawyer, Mahmut Şakar. These materials were studied by the Commission when assessing the merits of the applicant’s allegations as regards both the disappearance of her son and the intimidation of both her and her lawyer. 38. Statements were taken by gendarmes from twelve villagers between 23 February and 7 December 1994. On 23 February 1994 Arap Kurt, the muhtar of Ağıllı village at the relevant time, Davut Karakoç and Mehmet Kurt (both cousins of Üzeyir Kurt) were interviewed by gendarmes and asked about “their knowledge and observations about the hostage Üzeyir Kurt who had been kidnapped by the PKK”. Hasan Kılıç (see paragraph 15 above), Mevlüde Kurt (see paragraph 15 above) and other villagers present at the time of the military operation were questioned by