HDP’s Gergerlioğlu to be stripped of MP status on March 17

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The final ruling against Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Kocaeli MP Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu will be read out at the Plenary Session of the Parliament and he will be stripped of his MP status tomorrow (March 17).

As his prison sentence of 2 years, 6 months over a social media post from five years ago has been upheld by the Court of Cassation, Gergerlioğlu will be stripped of his MP status, which will pave the way for his imprisonment. Afterwards, he will serve 1 year, 10 months behind bars.

Gergerlioğlu has announced that he will attend the Plenary Session tomorrow and will not leave the Parliament, adding that he will not leave the Plenary Session if he is stripped of his MP status. The Parliamentary Group of the HDP will also not leave if any difficulties are raised.

"I will be at the Plenary Session. They can perhaps take me out of the Plenary Session, but I will wait at the heart of the Parliament, at the heart of the nation's will. We did not win this election easily. I will wait at the Plenary Session to the end, I will not leave it either. The nation sent me here; it will mean imprisoning 90 thousand people along with me," Gergerlioğlu has said.

Noting that the Constitutional Court has not yet handed down its ruling regarding his individual application, Gergerlioğlu has said, "What does it mean to not await the Constitutional Court ruling? One MP has come back based on a Constitutional Court ruling. Will they make this Parliament go through a second case of Berberoğlu? It is a shame."

CLICK - 'Constitutional Court ruling won't be awaited'

Gergerlioğlu has also noted that "the Constitutional Court will obviously give a ruling of right violation," adding that he will experience the same situation with main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) MP Enis Berberoğlu, who was previously stripped of MP status and briefly arrested as a prison sentence against him was upheld by the Court of Cassation, but regained his legislative immunity later on as the Constitutional Court found that his rights were violated in the related process.

"Not the beginning, but our end will be the same," Gergerlioğlu has said.

He has also tweeted, "A coup is staged not only by bombing a Parliament. Trying to force a person who received 90 thousand votes out of the Parliament is also a coup against the Parliament. I will resist this coup."

What happened?

HDP Kocaeli MP Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu was sentenced to 2 years, 6 months in prison on charge of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" on February 21, 2018 on the grounds of a social media post from 2016. This ruling given by the Kocaeli 2nd Heavy Penal Court has recently been upheld by the 16th Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation.

Speaking shortly after this ruling was handed down, Gergerlioğlu said that the verdict was "political", adding, "Strip searches, abductions, tortures... Some people got disturbed by us talking about all these."

He also made an application to the Constitutional Court. (HA/SD)