'HDP's Bülent Uyguner is in Coronavirus Risk Group, Release Him'

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"There is even the possibility that his closest friends and relatives will not be allowed to attend the hearing. But, instead of waiting at home, I will still go there. I cannot make any sense of why a person who has no suspicion of escape is arrested pending trial. Bülent has diseases. He is in the risk group as he is over 65. I want him to be released, considering the coronavirus."

Ayşegül Uyguner summarizes the condition of her arrested husband Bülent Uyguner in above words. Bülent Uyguner is an executive from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Kocaeli Organization and an HDP Party Assembly member. He has been behind bars since November 2019.

The indictment issued against Bülent Uyguner charges him with "propagandizing for a terrorist organization," "membership of an organization" and "successive terror propaganda." He will now stand trial at the İstanbul 32nd Heavy Penal Court in İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan.

'Being a member of the HDP depicted as a crime'

The prosecutor's office refers to his phone conversations and press statements as criminal evidence, it shows the activities of the HDP as illegal.

As reported by Hacı Bişkin from Gazete Duvar news website, Bülent Aşa, the attorney of Uyguner, says, "It is a crime to depict the activities of a political party, against which there is no decision of closure, as an armed organization." The attorneys of the HDP are also taking the issue to the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK).

'This arrest has no legal dimension'

Ayşegül Uyguner reminds us that the indictment refers to Bülent Uyguner as "the member of a terrorist organization." She continues as follows:

"There needs to be criteria to be [defined as] a member of an organization such as using a code name or living undercover. But, Bülent is someone everything about whom is public. In fact, he is so legal a person that he enrolled in the Department of Art History at İstanbul University. I mean, he is a legal person who needs to continue his university education.

"Police also know that he is a legal person. Because, in demonstrations in Kadıköy, they call him 'Brother Bülent.' He is a well-known figure. Being the member of an organization is the last thing that can be said about him.

"There are some medicine that he needs to take regularly. He has health problems. Bülent is over 65. So, he is in the risk group and I want him to be released for that reason. He should not be kept in a closed space.

"The indictment describes the HDP as a criminal organization in itself. In fact, the HDP is a legal party. He is the legal executive of a legal political party and his activities comply with the bylaw on political parties. Organizing a congress, making a statement for the press... These are all legal. We cannot make any sense of why he has been arrested. This arrest has no legal dimension, we have been saying this since the very beginning."

Bülent Uyguner was previously detained together with Socialist Re-Establishment Party (SYKP) member Harun Turgan in Kadıköy in May 2017. They were attending a commemoration ceremony for İbrahim Kaypakkaya, the founder of the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist (TKP/ML). Turgan and Uyguner were arrested shortly after they had been detained. They were released in September 2017.

What happened?

in Kocaeli province, 22 people including HDP Party Assembly member Bülent Uyguner, HDP Kocaeli Provincial Co-Chair Leyla Aygün, Engin Güleser, Mehmet Alçınkaya and HDP Gebze District Co-Chair Ebubekir Çoban were detained on November 26, 2019. Uyguner was arrested on charge of "being a member of a terrorist organization" on November 28, 14 of 22 people were arrested one day later. (EMK/SD)