Mızraklı Attended Protests for Leyla Güven, It is Counted as Crime in His Indictment

* Photo: Mezopotamya Agency

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The Diyarbakır 11th Heavy Penal Court has accepted the bill of indictment issued by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office against Dr. Adnan Selçuk Mızraklı, the dismissed Metropolitan Mayor of Diyarbakır.

After he was removed from office by the decree of Ministry of Interior on August 19, Mızraklı was arrested on October 22. Bringing a 6-page indictment against Mızraklı, the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has charged him with "membership of a terrorist organization". Mızraklı is facing 7.5 to 15 years in prison on the offense charged.

The protest demonstrations and events that Mızraklı attended while he was an MP for the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and in office as the Metropolitan Mayor of Diyarbakır have been cited as criminal evidence. The indictment has also considered it a crime that Mızraklı attended different protests for HDP's hunger striking Hakkari MP Leyla Güven.

Electoral meeting counted as crime

As evidence for his "membership of a terrorist organization", the indictment has also referred to his attendance and speech at Newroz on March 21, his attendance to a meeting on election results at a hotel in Diyarbakır and his attendance to a congress by the Democratic Society Congress (DTK).

Considering that Mızraklı was previously the Chair and Executive Board member of Sarmaşık Association for Struggle Against Poverty and Sustainable Development, which was closed by a Statutory Decree in 2016, the indictment has also regarded it as an organizational activity. It has been alleged that among the families aided by the association were also those of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) members.

Support, though not propaganda

Referring to the Twitter account of Selçuk Mızraklı, the indictment has claimed that his social media messages "were mostly about organization members and even though they did not constitute the crime of terror propaganda, they were still in support of the organization."

The indictment has also made references to the accounts of confessor H.B.A., based on which Mızraklı was arrested. The confessor previously said that "Mızraklı operated on a 'Hogır' code named terrorist taken from the rural to a private hospital in Diyarbakır, he did not hand this terrorist to security forces, but discharged from hospital and let go."

The Prosecutor's Office has indicated that the accounts of confessor H.B.A. "have to be taken into consideration."

Accepting the indictment, the Diyarbakır 11th Heavy Penal Court has ruled that the file of the ongoing lawsuit against Mızraklı at the Diyarbakır 9th Heavy Penal Court shall be combined with the file of this case. The file will be referred to the 9th Heavy Penal Court today (November 6). If the court accepts this request, Mızraklı will stand before the judge on December 25.

What happened?

Adnan Selçuk Mızraklı was taken into custody on October 21 as part of an investigation conducted by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. He was arrested on day later on charges of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" and "membership of a terrorist organization."

His lawyers objected to his arrest at the Diyarbakır 4th Penal Court of Peace. However, their objection was rejected by the court on October 31. (RT/SD)