Stripped of MP Status, HDP’s Leyla Güven Released

* Photo: Daily Yeni Yaşam

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Stripped of MP status and arrested afterwards, Peoples' Democratic Party's (HDP) Leyla Güven was released from prison last evening (June 9).

Hakkari MP Güven was relieved of MP duties and arrested on June 4, together with main opposition Republican Party (CHP) İstanbul MP Enis Berberoğlu and HDP Diyarbakır MP Musa Farisoğulları. Berberoğlu was also released one day later as part of coronavirus measures.

Leyla Güven previously served 4 years, 8 months behind bars before the Court of Cassation upheld and finalized her verdict. With her request for serving her remaining one-month prison term on probation rejected, her attorneys made another application last week and requested that this remaining term be deducted from another case where she was also arrested pending trial, but which has not yet been finalized.

With her attorneys' request accepted, Leyla Güven has been released from the Diyarbakır Women's Closed Prison.

Attorney Yalçındağ: She served extra 5 days

As reported by daily Yeni Yaşam, attorney Reyhan Yalçındağ, who applied for Güven's release, has underlined that the failure to release Musa Farisoğulları on probation means a serious unlawfulness.

"Though Leyla Güven had only one month, our request for probation was not accepted," Yalçındağ has said, and added, "While the ones convicted of injury, drugs, theft, etc. can use a right of probation for three years, they did not do it for Ms. Güven even for a month."

Sharing further details, she has said, "With our request for supervised release not accepted, we made an application for deduction of the remaining prison term. There was a one-year period when she was arrested pending trial in another case, I applied for deduction from this.

"I submitted my request an hour before Ms. Güven was sent behind bars, but, unfortunately, it has been finalized five days later. I can say that, with the related formalities prolonged, she served extra 5 days behind bars."

What happened?

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) İstanbul MP Enis Berberoğlu and HDP Hakkari and Diyarbakır MPs Leyla Güven and Musa Farisoğulları were stripped of their MP status on June 4 on the ground that there were finalized court rulings against them.

While all three were arrested on the same day, CHP's Berberoğlu has been released and sent home as part of coronavirus measures.

Put on trial with Can Dündar, the former Editor-in-Chief of daily Cumhuriyet, for giving him the footage of National Intelligence Organization (MİT) trucks allegedly carrying weapons to Syria, Enis Berberoğlu has been sentenced to 5 years, 10 months for "disclosing information that needs to be kept confidential for the security of the state or domestic or international interests for purposes of political and military espionage."

While Diyarbakır 2nd Heavy Penal Court has sentenced Musa Farisoğulları to 9 years in prison for "membership of an armed terrorist organization", Leyla Güven has also been sentenced to 6 years, 3 months in prison on the same charge and by the same court.

The prison sentences of Berberoğlu, Farisoğulları and Güven have been upheld by the 16th Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation.
(EMK/SD)