ELCI AND OTHERS v. TURKEY JUDGMENT 61 sacks full of guns. Mr Elçi was said to have acknowledged his possession of an “ERNK” document and connections with Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the PKK. He kept and disseminated propaganda publications. b) İmam Şahin (Statement dated 20 December 1993 and signed) 445. Mr Şahin was recorded as stating that he had sympathised with the PKK, being influenced by its propaganda. He carried out various tasks assigned to him, such as liaising between members held in different prisons and helping members settle in İstanbul. He had connections with certain high-ranking members (whom he named). His wife assisted the organisation by conveying correspondence and co-ordinating various activities in different prisons. He was the lawyer for the Özgür Gündem newspaper. 446. Mr Şahin took part in the campaign to close the Eskişehir Prison, having repeatedly been asked by “them” to put pressure on State authorities. He and his wife, Niyazi Çem and certain Diyarbakır lawyers analysed the situation. They pursued members' cases and passed on any State security information they obtained to the PKK. 447. He had direct contact with the European PKK organisation. He cited certain incidents and members' names. He brought together other İstanbul lawyers who were deemed “patriots”. He selected potential members of the DEP Party, which many lawyers joined, following the efforts of himself, his wife and Niyazi Çem. 448. Amongst his duties, he was to collect, fabricate and spread propaganda about, for example, ill-treatment in police custody, allegations of extorted statements, the unlawful operation of courts, and unlawful arrests and detention; and about the fact that the PKK was an organisation acting in self defence, not for terrorism, that villages were burned down and plundered and that State death “squads” were in operation, etc. The intention was to defame the State, and all kinds of lies were faxed to Europe on the instructions of the PKK. His wife was involved in this work, as were Selim Kurbanoğlu, Sebahattim Acar, Hüsniye Ölmez, Niyazi Çem, Meral and Mesut Beştaş, Vedat Erten, Gazanfer Abbasioğlu, Nevzat Kaya, Şinasi Tur, Fuat Hayri Demır, Arif Altinkalem, Tahir Elçi and Baki Demırham. 449. Mr Şahin was also recorded having admitted that he acted as a courier out of the Bursa, Gaziantep, Mardin, Elazığ and İstanbul prisons. c) Arzu Şahin (Statement dated 22 December 1993 and signed) 450. Arzu Şahin was recorded as stating that one of her PKK duties was to belittle the Republic of Turkey in the international arena. This was done by fabricating applications to the European Court of Human Rights, in