Leyla Güven Goes on Indefinite, Irreversible Hunger Strike

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Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Hakkari MP and Democratic Society Congress (DTK) Co-Chair Leyla Güven has announced that she has gone on an indefinite and irreversible hunger strike on the ground that she has been deprived of her right to a fair trial.

Speaking to bianet, attorney Reyhan Yalçındağ-Baydemir has confirmed the indefinite and irreversible hunger strike decision of her client Güven, who has been arrested in the Diyarbakır Type E Prison since January 31, 2018.

Yalçındağ-Baydemir has also stated that Güven did not inform her about her hunger strike in advance and announced it during her third hearing, which she attended via Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS).

Her request for release rejected

Leyla Güven, who was detained due to her statements about the Afrin operation on January 22, 2018 and arrested on January 31, had her third hearing at the Diyarbakır 9th Heavy Penal Court today (November 7).

Güven rejected going to the courthouse to attend the hearing in person after she was demanded to be taken there in handcuffs. Leyla Güven attended the hearing via the SEGBİS system.

The court board rejected the request for release of Leyla Güven. Her next hearing will be held on December 26, 3018.

She faces 31 years and 6 months in prison

Leyla Güven, the Co-Chair of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK), who was elected as the Hakkari MP of the HDP on June 24, was taken into custody in a raid conducted to her house on January 22, 2018.

Güven, who was arrested due to her statements regarding the Afrin operation, has been facing charges due to the statements for press and events that she attended and the statements that she made.

After being held in custody for nine days, she was arrested by the Diyarbakır 9th Heavy Penal Court on January 31, 2018.

About Leyla Güven

Born in 1968 and lived in Germany for a long time, Güven worked for the Women's Organization of the People's Democracy Party (HADEP) in 1994.

In 2004, she was elected the Mayor of Küçükdikili in Adana; in 2009, she was elected the Mayor of Viranşehir in Urfa.

As part of the operation launched against the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), she was arrested in December 2009. After being kept in custody for five years, she was released in 2014. At the main KCK trial, she was sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in prison.

She was the Urfa MP candidate of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) at the parliamentary elections in 2015. (EKN/SD)