European delegation observing trial of HDP leader expelled from courtroom
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A European delegation observing the first day of trial of Figen Yuksekdag, former co-chair of Turkey’s HDP, on terror-related charges has been removed from the courtroom on Tuesday.
A delegation from the Party of European Socialists (PES) was present in the Ankara courtroom to hear observe the trial, but they were removed from the court and later prevented by police from talking to the media.
PES delegates have visited Turkey several times in support of the main opposition party in Turkey, CHP, and the pro-Kurdish HDP.
“The fact that we have not been allowed to attend today’s trial in the courtroom and indeed prevented by the police from talking to the press outside of the tribunal itself, suggests that the pressure we are bringing to bear with our regular visits is having an effect,” PES President Sergei Stanishev said in a published statement.
“We will continue for as long as necessary to make representations about this unacceptable situation, to draw international attention to what is happening in the country, and to fight for the restoration of full democracy in Turkey,” he added.
Stanishev also denounced the trial as “politically-motivated” and part of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “broader strategy to silence and undermine political opposition to his regime.”
Yuksekdag told the court that the trial was a “political offense,” according to HDP. “They talk about law, but everyone knows that this process, my trial, our trials have nothing to do with law.”
Prosecutors have previously demanded a lengthy sentence of up to 83 years. In court on Tuesday, Yuksekdag was unbowed by the prospect of spending the rest of her life in jail. “If I had more lifetimes, I’d still do the same things. We’ve a cause of democracy and peace, worth a century,” HDP quoted her as saying.
Yuksekdag was arrested in November 2016 on charges of supporting terrorism and Abdullah Ocalan, imprisoned leader of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), after she participated in a rally in February 2015 protesting Ocalan’s imprisonment. In February, she was stripped by a court of her status as a member of parliament and in April she was sentenced to one year in prison on terror charges.
After losing her MP status, HDP voted Filiz Kerestecioglu as co-chair to fill her vacant position alongside Selahattin Demirtas. Demirtas is also imprisoned on terror charges.
Ankara believes HDP has ties with the PKK, a named terrorist organization.
A delegation from the Party of European Socialists (PES) was present in the Ankara courtroom to hear observe the trial, but they were removed from the court and later prevented by police from talking to the media.
PES delegates have visited Turkey several times in support of the main opposition party in Turkey, CHP, and the pro-Kurdish HDP.
“The fact that we have not been allowed to attend today’s trial in the courtroom and indeed prevented by the police from talking to the press outside of the tribunal itself, suggests that the pressure we are bringing to bear with our regular visits is having an effect,” PES President Sergei Stanishev said in a published statement.
“We will continue for as long as necessary to make representations about this unacceptable situation, to draw international attention to what is happening in the country, and to fight for the restoration of full democracy in Turkey,” he added.
Stanishev also denounced the trial as “politically-motivated” and part of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “broader strategy to silence and undermine political opposition to his regime.”
Yuksekdag told the court that the trial was a “political offense,” according to HDP. “They talk about law, but everyone knows that this process, my trial, our trials have nothing to do with law.”
Prosecutors have previously demanded a lengthy sentence of up to 83 years. In court on Tuesday, Yuksekdag was unbowed by the prospect of spending the rest of her life in jail. “If I had more lifetimes, I’d still do the same things. We’ve a cause of democracy and peace, worth a century,” HDP quoted her as saying.
Yuksekdag was arrested in November 2016 on charges of supporting terrorism and Abdullah Ocalan, imprisoned leader of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), after she participated in a rally in February 2015 protesting Ocalan’s imprisonment. In February, she was stripped by a court of her status as a member of parliament and in April she was sentenced to one year in prison on terror charges.
After losing her MP status, HDP voted Filiz Kerestecioglu as co-chair to fill her vacant position alongside Selahattin Demirtas. Demirtas is also imprisoned on terror charges.
Ankara believes HDP has ties with the PKK, a named terrorist organization.