Selahattin put HDP Majors & MPs at risk of imprisonment

[Anthea]

HDP Amed co-chair detained

A Turkish court sentenced the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Amed Provincial co-chair Hülya Alökmen to 10 years and 6 months in prison for alleged "membership of a terrorist organization"

The prosecutor accused Alökmen of participating in the actions and activities organized by the Health Workers Union (SES) while she served as the provincial branch chairperson and being a delegate of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK).

The court sentenced Alökmen to 10 years and 6 months in prison and issued an arrest warrant for her.

The female politician has been taken into custody by the police during a visit to her family in Savur district of Mardin late in the afternoon.

[Anthea]

Hearing of Demirtaş postponed

The prosecution demanded that the case of Demirtaş be combined with the Kobanê Case at the 22nd High Criminal Court in Ankara

In the main case against the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) former co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş, the court did not listen to the statements of lawyers and adjourned the hearing.

Despite the fact that the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) had ruled that Selahattin Demirtaş should be released immediately, Turkey continues to keep the Kurdish politician in jail. The hearing of the main case was held at the Ankara 19th High Criminal Court of Sincan Prison Campus on Wednesday.

The indictment of the Kobanê Case was added to Demirtaş’s case. The prosecution demanded that the recusation request of Demirtaş be submitted to the 20th High Criminal Court and the case be combined with the Kobanê Case at the 22nd High Criminal Court.

The hearing was postponed to 6 May

[Anthea]

Court returns HDP indictment

The Court of Cassation chief prosecutor failed to prove the relation between the HDP and the acts listed in the indictment, according to the justification

The Constitutional Court has returned the indictment of the closure case against the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) to the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office of the Court of Cassation.

The top court ruled on March 31 that the indictment should be returned after finding procedural deficiencies in the indictment.

Today, it returned the indictment with the justification of its decision.

With the indictment, the Constitutional Court also conveyed the justification of its decision to the Court of Cassation.

The Court of Cassation chief prosecutor failed to prove the relation between the HDP and the acts listed in the indictment, according to the justification.

"... In this context, inclusion of the relevant peoples' acts in the indictment is not enough and the relation with the alleged and the party 'becoming a center' of these acts also needs to be revealed," it stated.

The Court of Cassation chief prosecutor can send the indictment to the top court again after rectifying the deficiencies.

[Anthea]

Over a hundred to stand trial in Turkey

Over a hundred people will stand trial in Turkey this coming Monday for their alleged role in violence at 2014 protests against the army’s inaction during the Islamic State (ISIS) group’s takeover of Syria’s Kurdish town Kobane

A total of 108 people, including large swathes of members and officials from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), will be tried in Ankara in relation to riots that took place in 2014, when protesters across Turkey – especially its Kurdish-majority southeast – took to the streets to express solidarity with Kurds in the northern Syrian city of Kobane, then under attack from ISIS. Over 30 people died, and more than 700 were injured when the protests turned violent.

An indictment issued in January called for 38 counts of life sentences without parole against the 108 defendants, including jailed Kurdish political leader Selahattin Demirtas. Charges include the burning the Turkish flag, damaging prayer houses, abduction and damaging public property.

A number of HDP members are on trial for a tweet by the political party calling for protests, which the government says supported the Kurdistan Workers' Party — a Kurdish armed group considered a terrorist group by the Turkish state.

"The peaceful demonstrations held across Kobani and some Turkish cities were not met with violence until Erdogan released a statement saying 'Kobane is about to fall,'" said HDP deputy chairman Saruhan Oluc.

The HDP showed great effort to prevent damage after an increase in violence and death began, he added.

The Islamic State (ISIS) emerged in Iraq and Syria in 2014. The demonstrators accused the Turkish army of standing by ISIS militants besieging Kobane.

The HDP is also facing legal attempts by Ankara to close down the party.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeas ... /240420211

[Anthea]

Demirtaş sentenced to two and a half years

The former HDP co-chairman is alleged to have made the ex-chief prosecutor of Ankara "a target of terrorists"

Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for "insulting a prosecutor". The basis of the show trial this Friday at the 25th Heavy Penal Court of Ankara is an alleged insult by the defendant to Yüksel Kocaman, the former chief public prosecutor of Ankara, who has since been promoted to the Court of Cassation. Kocaman had charged Demirtaş with allegedly threatening and publicly defaming a public official.

Specifically, it concerned a statement made by Demirtaş last September during a meeting with his lawyer Cahit Kırkazak. Referring to the photos of Kocaman's wedding at the Sheraton in Ankara, which had been circulated in the media shortly before and was attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the chairman of the Court of Cassation, the minister of justice, the minister of the interior, the chief of general staff and the chairman of the election commission, among others.

Demirtaş reportedly said, "There was a time when prosecutors were even given armored vehicles. Nevertheless, they did not manage to evade justice. The gift bags that someone puts in your hands will also not save you from prosecution." According to the court, Demirtaş thus made the prosecutor a target as a "person in a counterterrorism office" among "supporters of terrorist organizations".

Demirtaş was not present in person at the hearing and was linked in via video conferencing system from the high-security prison in Edirne, western Turkey, where he has been held hostage since the end of 2016. In the courtroom, the 48-year-old politician, who is himself a lawyer, was defended by Hadi Cin, Levent Kanat, Aydın Erdoğan and Mahsuni Karaman.

During the reading of the prosecution's plea, there were fierce protests from the defense because Demirtaş was described in it as a "person with links to the armed and terrorist organization PKK/KCK." Demirtaş's lawyers called the trial "politically motivated" and a "farce" and demanded acquittal for their client. They said, the fact that the trial came about because of the statement about Yüksel Kocaman showed the "anti-judicial marching band" in the courts.

The presiding judges ruled that the alleged threat posed by Demirtaş’s statements did not exist, but did not see any mitigating circumstances that justified reducing the sentence. The decision was based on the fact that Demirtaş's comment was disseminated on Twitter.

In prison despite ECtHR ruling

Selahattin Demirtaş has been in prison for over four and a half years. The then HDP co-chairman was arrested on November 4, 2016, at the same time as numerous other Kurdish and left-wing politicians, including co-chairwoman Figen Yüksekdağ, and subsequently imprisoned. Despite a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), he has not been released.

[Anthea]

New indictment to ban the HDP

The Chief Public Prosecutor at the Turkish Court of Cassation has submitted a new indictment against the HDP to the Constitutional Court. At the end of March, a first version of the indictment had been found fault with and returned

The Chief Public Prosecutor at the Turkish Court of Cassation has submitted a new indictment for a ban against the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) to the Constitutional Court in Ankara. The indictment equates the HDP with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and accuses it of undermining the "indivisible integrity of the Turkish state".

At the end of March, a first version of the application had been found fault with and returned. The constitutional judges instructed the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office to revise and resubmit the indictment. In doing so, they followed the recommendation of a rapporteur who had previously reviewed the indictment and found formal errors.

Among other things, it was criticized that personal data and job titles were incorrectly stated in the indictment and that some of the HDP politicians for whom a ban on politics is demanded have already died. In addition, no sufficient connection had been established between the actual activities of the party organs and the accusations.

In the new indictment for a ban, Chief Public Prosecutor Bekir Şahin is now calling for the political ban to apply not to some 680 members of the HDP, but to just under 500. In addition, all of the party's accounts are to be frozen. It is expected that the Constitutional Court will decide in the next two weeks whether to initiate ban proceedings against the HDP.

[Anthea]

HDP slams new indictment

Pervin Buldan, co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) slammed a new indictment against the party on Tuesday, saying the government is shielding the mafia by instead looking to shut down her party

Chief Public Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation, Bekir Sahin, filed a suit with the constitutional court in March, seeking the dissolution of the HDP and a ban on hundreds of its politicians. The indictment was rejected due to “procedural deficiencies.”

He filed a new indictment against the party on Monday. The HDP slammed the move, launching the Twitter hashtag #HDPyiDeğilMafyayıYargıla, which translates to “try the mafia, not the HDP.”

“We can see the pit in which the judiciary fell. The judiciary, which did not go against criminal organizations, once again shielded the mafia by opening another case against the HDP. Whenever their dirt is revealed, they think of the HDP and Kurds [to clean it],” Buldan told her party’s bloc in parliament on Tuesday, condemning the “zero investigation into the mafia, but closure of the HDP.”

The HDP was founded in 2012 as a pro-Kurdish leftist party. With a diverse group of candidates from devout Muslims, to minority representatives, socialists, and LGBT activists, the HDP passed the 10 percent vote threshold and entered the parliament in 2015. It has since been subject to a significant crackdown in recent years, with Turkish officials claiming it is linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party – ties the HDP denies.

Sedat Peker, a mob leader, has made a series of YouTube videos which have dominated social media since early May. In the uploads, the mafia boss has linked several senior figures – including interior minister Suleyman Soylu- to serious crimes, including rape and corruption. He says Soylu himself has shielded him from prosecution.

A warrant was issued for his arrest by a Turkish court late last month after Solyu filed a lawsuit against him. President Recep Tayip Erdogan publicly defended the minister against Peker’s claims

Turkish police later detained Sedat’s brother, Attila, and a bodyguard, based on a recent claim by Peker that his brother tried to kill a journalist some 25 years ago.

Buldan told Rudaw English in April that the closure of the party will not end its struggle.

“Political parties are means or tools for political struggle. The important thing is to continue this struggle,” she said.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeas ... y/08062021

[Anthea]

HDP lawmaker’s rights violated

An outspoken politician who was stripped of his parliamentary membership on the ticket of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) had his rights violated, the Turkish Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday. His son said that the politician is being released

Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, known for shining a light on strip searches in prisons, was sentenced to two years and six months in 2018 on charges of producing propaganda for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in connection with a 2016 tweet about how to peacefully end the decades-long conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state.

The decision was upheld by a higher court, ending his membership in parliament in February. He was detained for a short period of time on March 21 and detained again on April 2. He has been incarcerated since then.

Turkey's Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday that Gergerlioglu's "right to be elected and engage in political activities," as well as "the right to liberty and security" have been violated," says Bianet, an independent news outlet.

In addition, the top court has ruled that the court that gave him the sentence must be notified so that the appropriate steps to be taken for his release can be initiated.

Salih Gergerlioglu, the former lawmaker’s son who has been defending his father on social media since his arrest, confirmed the court’s ruling in a tweet, saying “My father is going to be released; he is going to be released."

“One day, I will publish the news of my father’s release here,” Salih said in a separate tweet.

HDP has been under pressure by the Turkish government for its alleged links to the PKK. Scores of its members and politicians have been arrested in recent years on terror charges. There is an ongoing trial for the closure of the party following the submission of an indictment which also seeks a political ban on hundreds of party members.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeas ... /010720211

[Anthea]

More detained in Turkey

The son of a former pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) lawmaker was detained, along with several journalists in Turkey, the party said on Monday

HDP members gathered on Monday in front of Ankara's Sincan Prison, where former MP Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu is being held, to protest his delayed release. They were attacked and “four people, including Salih Gergerlioglu and journalists were detained,” HDP tweeted on Monday.

Salih Gergerlioglu is the son of the HDP lawmaker. He said in a tweet “I was detained,” on Monday.

Faruk Gergerlioglu was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail in 2018 on charges of making propaganda for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), in connection with a 2016 tweet about how to peacefully end the decades-long conflict between the PKK, an armed group fighting for increased Kurdish rights, and the Turkish state.

The decision was upheld by a higher court, ending his membership in parliament in February. He was detained for a short period of time on March 21 and detained again on April 2. He has been incarcerated since then.

Turkey's Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday that his "right to be elected and engage in political activities," as well as "the right to liberty and security," have been violated, reported Bianet, an independent news outlet.

“The Constitutional Court has given a ruling of 'rights violation' for my father. My father is going to be released; he is going to be released,” his son Salih had tweeted.

The HDP has been subjected to a government crackdown for its alleged links to the PKK, links which the party denies. Scores of its members and politicians have been arrested in recent years on terror charges. Last month, Turkey's Constitutional Court accepted an indictment seeking the closure of the party and a political ban on hundreds of party members.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeas ... y/05072021

[Anthea]

HDP lawmaker released

A former lawmaker from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) was released from a Turkish prison late on Tuesday following a ruling from the Constitutional Court which said his rights were violated

Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, who had been in Ankara's Sincan Prison for more than three months, was released five days after the Turkish Constitutional Court ruled that his "right to be elected and engage in political activities," as well as "the right to liberty and security" have been violated, saying he should be released.

In 2018, Gergerlioglu was sentenced to two years and six months in prison on charges of producing propaganda for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), in connection with a 2016 tweet about how to peacefully end the decades-long conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state.

The decision was upheld by a higher court and he was stripped of his parliamentary membership in May. He was detained for a short period of time on March 21 and again on April 2.

HDP members gathered outside of the prison on Monday to protest his delayed release.

“What happened to me has happened to millions of people,” he said in a press conference held at the HDP headquarters in Ankara after his release.

“This is not our victory, but the victory of people,” he added.

“Our struggle for justice has paid off,” the HDP said on Tuesday, after the ruling to release him was sent to a local court.

Emma Sinclair-Webb, Human Rights Watch (HRW) Europe and Central Asia Associate Director, welcomed Gergerlioglu’s release, saying he “belongs in parliament not prison.”

The HDP has been under pressure by the Turkish government for its alleged links to the PKK. Scores of its members and politicians have been arrested in recent years on terror charges. There is an ongoing trial for the closure of the party following the submission of an indictment which also seeks a political ban on hundreds of party members.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeas ... /060720211

[Anthea]

Police take 15 into custody

At least 15 people, including HDP Istanbul provincial and district organization executives, have been taken into custody this morning

The houses of many people, including Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Istanbul provincial and district executives, were raided by the police in the morning. At least 15 people were taken into custody in Sultanbeyli, Sancaktepe, Esenyurt, Sultangazi and Kartal.

The names of those detained are as follows: Elvan Uçar Kordu, Ferhat Yıldız, Ramazan Kuni, Ayatullah Yavuz, Erol Aktaş, Veysel Özdaş, Nizamettin Açık, Metin Beyret, Suat Yıldız, Selim Boğa, Bilal Adıgüzel, Bedrettin Aytun, Kerbela Bakır, İsmail İnedi (75), Ilknur Yusufoglu.

[Anthea]

Turkey sentences dead Kurd to 8 years prison

A Turkish court sentenced a Kurdish politician who died four years ago to more than eight years in prison for his alleged links to an umbrella group linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), affiliated media reported on Sunday

Ahmet Onder was sentenced to eight years and nine months in prison in Hakkari province’s criminal court in the Kurdish-populated southeast Turkey during the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) trial, Firat News Agency (ANF) said on Sunday. KCK is an umbrella group of a number of parties, including the PKK, which is a deemed a terrorist organization by Ankara.

Onder died four years ago due to cancer. He was the head of communications in the People's Democratic Party (HDP), a pro-Kurdish party that top Turkish officials have accused of being the political wing of the PKK, leading to the arrests of scores of their politicians — including former co-chairs and parliamentarians and members — in recent years on terror charges. HDP has denied any links to the PKK.

The PKK established the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), which soon became a target of the state, in 2007. Turkish prosecutors launched a campaign dubbed the KCK Case, arresting and otherwise reprimanding anyone believed to be affiliated with the group.

Turkey has detained and sentenced scores of Kurdish politicians, activists and journalists in the last decade for their alleged links to the KCK.

Last year, 68 out of 79 people were tried and found guilty on charges of membership in a terrorist organization for their links to KCK.

The recent case put 30 people on trial, including Ramziya Yashar from HDP who was sentenced to 17 years and six months in prison over alleged “membership in a terrorist organization,” local news reports said.

Yashar was the co-mayor of Yuksekova district, arrested in October 2019 along with a number of other HDP mayors in the Kurdish-majority areas during police raids.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeas ... y/03102021

[Anthea]

Threats to Demirtas's family

Jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas on Thursday warned against inciting violence against his family, a day after his wife’s controversial interview with a Turkish broadcaster made her the target of some media outlets and politicians

“Let the lynching mobs, who targeted my family on screens last night, know that if a single member of my family is harmed you are responsible,” said Demirtas in a tweet on Thursday, as reference to television programs targeting his wife Basak Demirtas for comments she made to a broadcaster.

Basak Demirtas appeared in a rare interview with Turkey’s opposition Fox TV on Wednesday, talking about her life after the detention of her husband in 2016. She also talked about Demirtas’ past as the co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

“Selahattin has never said he was sorry for what he had done,” she said in the morning program. She also criticized Turkish authorities for not allowing her to meet with her jailed husband enough. “Our daughters have been unable to hug their father for 19 months.”

Demirtas was jailed on November 4, 2016 for alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). He has also been accused of having a role in the death of 108 people during 2014 protests across Kurdish-majority areas in Turkey in support of the Kurdish city of Kobane in Syria after it was besieged by the Islamic State (ISIS).

Hamza Dag, deputy leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), was among those who took to social media and slammed Basak Demirtas’ comments as well as the broadcaster for allowing her to say that her husband is not sorry for his actions on the seventh anniversary of the Kobane incident. “This coverage was not a coincidence, but deliberate. Who are you with, Fox TV? Terrorism or Turkey?” he asked.

Hours later, Turkey’s Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK) said in a tweet that it has launched an investigation into the program as per its media law without mentioning which part of the interview was the subject of the probe.

Pro-government outlets like CNN Turk and A Haber made Basak the subject of their hours-long programs late Wednesday, with some guests claiming she is being prepared to run for future elections or has a secret agenda.

Basak Demirtas stood by her comments on Thursday, criticizing the coverage of her interview.

“It means that five years of lies and slander can be crushed by an hour of truth. There is no need for such attacks, it should have been known that in the face of the truth, all the lies and the perceptions produced would not last forever,” she added.

Pervin Buldan, co-chair of the HDP, showed her support for Demirtas’ wife.

Mahsuni Karaman, who has been the Kurdish politician’s lawyer for years, said the attacks were unsuccessful fear mongering. “One goal is to scare the public. Yet no one is afraid. Not at all anymore.”

Some Turkish officials claim that the HDP is the political wing of the PKK - an armed group fighting for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. Ankara has designated the PKK as a terrorist organization. The HDP has denied any organic links with the group.

The Turkish government has cracked down on the HDP for years, jailing top officials, members and supporters.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeas ... y/07102021

[Anthea]

HDP member jailed

HDP Party Assembly member Mehmet Eşref Mamedoğlu has been sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in prison based on “secret witness” statements

The hearing of the case against Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Party Assembly member Mehmet Eşref Mamedoğlu on charges of “being a member of a terrorist organization” was held at Diyarbakır 9th High Criminal Court on Monday.

Mamedoğlu, tried without arrest, faces terror charges based on the statements of a secret witness.

Serhat Eren, Mamedoğlu's lawyer, was present at the hearing. The lawyer rejected the accusations, saying that the statements of a secret witness or informant who is in dire straits could be neither grounded nor objective.

Eren stated that his client participated in the actions, events and funerals in question as a political party official, adding that these actions were carried out within a democratic framework. The lawyer demanded the acquittal of his client.

The court sentenced Mamedoğlu to 7 years and 6 months in prison on charges of “being a member of a terrorist organization”.

If Turkey is allowed to get away with using a secret witness then legally they have set a precedent

(a decision about a particular legal case that makes it likely that other similar cases will be decided in the same way)

[Anthea]

Kurdish feminist sentenced to 30 years
Wladimir van Wilgenburg

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Ayşe Gökkan, a former mayor of Nusaybin, and spokesperson of the Free Women’s Movement (TJA) was sentenced to three years in jail on Wednesday, the Mezopotamya news agency reported

Gökkan was sentenced by the Diyarbakır 9th High Criminal Court for her alleged support of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). She was charged on the allegation of being a “leader of a terrorist organization" and "membership in a terrorist organization.”

The PKK has been fighting a decades-long insurgency with Ankara over Kurdish rights in Turkey.

According to her biography, published on Open Democracy, Gökkan became famous after protesting the building of a wall by Turkey on the border with northeast Syria during the war in that country.

The provincial branch of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in Amed (Diyarbakir) called the court decision a blow to the “women’s struggle.”

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/25 ... -in-Turkey