HDP Assistant Co-Chair Alp Altınörs Arrested

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Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Assistant Co-Chair Alp Altınörs has been arrested.

According to a report by ETHA, he was detained during a house raid in Ankara and held for three days by the Tokat anti-terror police. He exercised his right to remain silent.

In a later statement, he said: “This is a plot against the HDP. We will thwart it.”

Expecting to be brought to court today after his lawyers met with the prosecution, Altınörs was instead sent to court last night.

Following consultation with his lawyers, which continued into the late hours of the night, Altınörs was sent to the court-on-duty for arrest. The court ruled that he be arrested on the charges of “membership of an [illegal] organization” and “procuring staff for an [illegal] organization”.

In addition to Altınörs, 15 other people have been taken into custody as part of the investigation launched by the Tokat Republican Office of the Chief Prosecutor in relation to the funeral ceremony of Zakir Karabulut, the HDP Tokat Provincial Director who was killed in the 10 October massacre in Ankara.

Following the ongoing court proceedings, 12 HDP members have been arrested on the charges of “membership of an [illegal] organization” and “procuring staff for an [illegal] organization”. In addition to Altınörs, the group of 12 includes HDP Tokat Provincial Co-Chair Kadir Akkaya and HDP Merkez District Chair Erdal Bektaş. Four people have been released on condition of judicial control.

Altınörs and the other HDP members were brought to Çamlıbel Prison.

Meanwhile, Altınörs’s wife, who was waiting for him in Tokat Court, and HDP Ankara Provincial Co-Chair Birsen Kaya, have also been detained. (EA/DG)