HDP co-chair Demirtaş: ‘My address is Grand National Assembly of Turkey’
Detained co-chair of Turkey’s HDP, Selahattin Demirtaş, appeared before court today (February 23) remotely through a video conference system.
Held in detention at Edirne’s F type prison since November of last year, Demirtaş testified before court in reference to accusations against him for ‘triggering enmity among members of the public.’
As the judge began the hearing with a procedural questioning for identity verification by asking Demirtaş his address, Demirtaş replied: ‘Grand National Assembly of Turkey’.
While several lawyers attended the hearing, chair of PES (Party of European Socialists) Sergey Stanishev, Sweden’s Left Party’s chair Jonas Sjöstedt, and their delegations, along with HDP’s deputy parliamentary group leader Filiz Kerestecioğlu and a group of HDP MPs, were also present.
Parts of the testimony of Demirtaş followed as: “… I am being tried on accusations that I had provoked the people with enmity… In the indictment, it has not been stated how exactly I had done that… I am still the co-chair and İstanbul MP for a party that got the votes of 6 million people… I am a politician and I have to give my testimony by taking into consideration my political identity… As a member of the legislative body, I have felt really sad about this indictment. The plaintiffs and prosecutors do not have to value our party and our political views but they have to respect them. Turning a document of criminal complaint into an indictment without changing even a sentence cannot be considered as an indictment…There are several lawsuits against me filed in over 30 provinces across Turkey. Therefore, I would like to express that having to go to each of these court hearings in a prison vehicle is both degrading and impossible. So, I am actually being tried with my right to fair trial violated…”
Source: https://www.birgun.net/haber-detay/selahattin-demirtas-adresim-turkiye-buyuk-millet-meclisi-148019.html