Attorneys of Selahattin Demirtaş: They Looked for a Judge to Interrogate and Arrest Him

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Attorneys of Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) imprisoned former Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş have made a statement for the press about the verdict of re-arrest given for Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ by the Ankara 1st Penal Court of Peace as part of an investigation launched by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on September 20.

CLICK - Verdict of Arrest for Imprisoned Former HDP Co-Chairs

The statement was held by attorneys Mehmet Emin Aktar, Mesut Beştaş, Aygül Demirtaş and Mahsuni Kahraman at Diyarbakır Bar Association today (September 23). Reading out the statement for the press, Mahsuni Kahraman indicated that Demirtaş has been held as a "political captive" in Edirne Type F Closed Prison for almost 3 years.

Some highlights from the statement are as follows:

'An unprecedented legal scandal'

'We were faced with an unprecedented legal scandal two days after the Grand Chamber hearing of Demirtaş was held at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and on the day when the verdict was announced as to our request that the time he had already served in prison be deducted from his prison term and Mr. Demirtaş be released on probation.

"The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office called the Edirne Prison Directorate on September 20 and demanded that Mr. Demirtaş present himself at the Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS) room.

"Going to the room to inquire about why he was summoned, the client was informed that the prosecutor would like to take his deposition due to the October 6-8 incidents and the offenses charged.

"Mr. Demirtaş indicated that he would make his statement later and in person at the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office considering the scope of the charges filed against him and on the ground that he is in prison, was summoned by phone and his attorneys were not present. In response, the procedure of taking deposition was ended.

"In the afternoon of the same day and again by phone, Edirne Prison and we, his lawyers, were informed that Mr. Demirtaş was referred to court with the request to arrested. While the client, who was referred to court for arrest and presented himself in the SEGBİS room at Edirne Prison, was waiting there, a search for a judge to interrogate and arrest Mr. Demirtaş started at the corridors of Ankara Courthouse. That is, even though the 6th Penal Court of Peace was on duty on that day, the client was interrogated and arrested by the Ankara 1st Penal Court of Peace on Duty.

'Prosecutor's Office made a false statement'

"With two statements for the press on the day when Demirtaş was arrested and the day after, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office stated that "Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ were not arrested on the charges currently filed by Ankara Heavy Penal Courts, but on the charges indicated in the file no. 2014/146757 of public prosecutor's offices and, therefore, it is not a repeating investigation or trial.'

"We would like to indicate that describing this statement as 'unreal' would be light and that it was a statement made knowingly and willingly, thereby constituting the offenses of misconduct in office, fabricating crimes, forgery of documents, attempting to influence fair trial and false imprisonment.

'They are not even suspects in the investigation'

"Apart from the fact that Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ have been arrested on the charges filed in currently ongoing lawsuits against them, they are not even the suspects of the investigation file no. 2014/146757 of Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

"Right after the incident that took place in October 2014 and publicly known as October 6-8 incidents, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office launched two investigations against two HDP Central Executive Committee members 'upon a tweet posted from the HDP Central Office Twitter account'.

Call to Ministry and Council of Judges, Prosecutors

"We are calling on to the Ministry of Justice and Council of Judges and Prosecutors: File an immediate and ex officio investigation against the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor, prosecutor of the investigation and the judge of Ankara 1st Penal Court of Peace who gave the verdict of arrest."

Concluding their remarks, the attorneys also announced that they would file a criminal complaint against all responsible parties. (RT/SD)

* Photograph: HDP Central Office