Demirtaş to court board: This might probably be our last meeting

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Behind bars in Edirne Prison since November 2016, Peoples' Democaratic Party (HDP) former Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş appeared before the judge at the Ankara 19th Heavy Penal Court in Sincan Prison Campus in the capital city of Ankara today (April 14).

Without giving Demirtaş's attorneys the right to speak, the court ruled that a letter should be addressed to the İstanbul 22nd Heavy Penal Court with a request for merging this case file with that of the Kobanê trial.

In the case where HDP Co-Chair Figen Yüksekdağ is standing trial, the court previously ruled that the file of the case where she is arrested pending trial should be merged with the file of the Kobanê trial.

'We have already released him'

Demirtaş attended today's hearing from Edirne Type F Prison via the Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS).

As reported by Mezopotamya Agency, the hearing started with an identity check. Then, the court board announced the documents added to the file. One of the documents was the indictment of the Kobanê trial.

Afterwards, the prosecutor demanded that the rejection of the request for recusation given at the previous hearing be forwarded to the 20th Heavy Penal Court to be examined and the file of the case be merged with the file of the Kobanê trial heard by the 22nd Heavy Penal Court.

The court board, in response, announced the interim judgement without hearing the statements of the attorneys. It ruled that the request for recusation should be examined by the 20th Heavy Penal Court and a letter should be addressed to the 22nd Heavy Penal Court, requesting that the file of the Kobanê trial heard by that court be merged with this case file.

The court board also referred to the ruling of "immediate release" given by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) Grand Chamber for Demirtaş. The board concluded that "as it had given a ruling of release before, there was no ground for taking any other action."

'I would expect you to do a lawful act'

After the court pronounced its interim judgement, Selahattin Demirtaş addressed the board, saying, "This might probably be our last meeting. I have a special request from you. Your court has been trying me for nearly five years. I would expect you to act in compliance with the law, at least for once. The ruling for merging the cases should have been given by you. Even a hearing has not been held at the other court."

The Presiding Judge answered, "You have always said you think we have lost our impartiality. We thought that you would be happier if you were tried by a different board. Since the day when the hearings started, you have been saying that we are partial; then, let another board hear it."

The next hearing will be held on May 6.

From the Kobane indictment

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office prepared an indictment regarding the Kobani protests that took place on October 6-8, 2014.

108 people, including the arrested former Co-Chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtaş, were among the "suspects".

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), the indictment demanded the penalization of all suspects on charges of "disrupting the unity and territorial integrity of the state", "killing for 37 times, "attempted killing for 31 times", "burning the flag" and "violating the Law on Protecting Atatürk."

Prepared by the Terror Crimes Investigation Bureau of the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, the indictment was sent to the Ankara 22nd Heavy Penal Court. The court accepted the indictment on January 7, 2021.

Here are the names of all defendants: Figen Yüksekdağ, Sebahat Tuncel, Selahattin Demirtaş, Selma Irmak, Sırrı Süreyya Önder, Gülfer Akkaya, Gülser Yıldırım, Gültan Kışanak, Ahmet Türk, Ali Ürküt, Alp Altınörs, Altan Tan, Ayhan Bilgen, Nazmi Gür, Ayla Akat Ata, Aysel Tuğluk, İbrahim Binici, Ayşe Yağcı, Nezir Çakan, Pervin Oduncu, Meryem Adıbelli, Mesut Bağcık, Bircan Yorulmaz, Bülent Barmaksız, Can Memiş, Cihan Erdal, Berfin Özgü Köse, Günay Kubilay, Dilek Yağlı, Emine Ayna, Emine Beyza Üstün, Mehmet Hatip Dicle, Ertuğrul Kürkçü, Yurdusev Özsökmenler, Arife Köse, Ayfer Kordu, Aynur Aşan, Ayşe Tonğuç, Azime Yılmaz, Bayram Yılmaz, Bergüzar Dumlu, Cemil Bayık, Ceylan Bağrıyanık, Cihan Ekin, Demir Çelik, Duran Kalkan, Elif Yıldırım, Emine Tekas, Emine Temel, Emrullah Cin, Engin Karaaslan, Enver Güngör, Ercan Arslan, Fatma Şenpınar, Fehman Hüseyin, Ferhat Aksu, Filis Arslan, Filiz Duman, Gönül Tepe, Gülseren Törün, Gülten Alataş, Gülüşan Eksen, Gülüzar Tural, Güzel İmecik, Hacire Ateş, Hatice Altınışık, Hülya Oran, İsmail Özden, İsmail Şengül, Kamuran Yüksek, Layika Gültekin, Leyla Söğüt Aydeniz, Mahmut Dora, Mazhar Öztürk, Mazlum Tekdağ, Abdulselam Demirkıran, Mehmet Taş, Mehmet Tören, Menafi Bayazit, Mızgın Arı, Murat Karayılan, Mustafa Karasu, Muzaffer Ayata, Nazlı Taşpınar, Neşe Baltaş, Nihal Ay, Nuriye Kesbir, Remzi Kartal, Rıza Altun, Ruken Karagöz, Sabiha Onar, Sabri Ok, Salih Akdoğan, Salih Müslüm Muhammed, Salman Kurtulan, Sara Aktaş, Sibel Akdeniz, Şenay Oruç, Ünal Ahmet Çelen, Yahya Figan, Yasemin Becerekli, Yusuf Koyuncu, Yüksel Baran, Zeki Çelik, Zeynep Karaman, Zeynep Ölbeci, Zübeyir Aydar.

About Kobani protests

Before the protests held to support Kobani in northern Syria in 2014, those who were waiting in the district of Suruç, Urfa in southeastern Turkey and wanted to cross the border were intervened with pepper gas and rubber bullets. In the meantime, some pictures allegedly showing ISIS militia crossing the border of Turkey were published.

President and ruling AKP Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made statements indicating that they equated PKK with ISIS. While the wounded coming from Kobani were kept waiting on the border, the wounded from ISIS were treated at hospitals. Several news reports were reported in the press, saying "Kobani fell." These news reports were denied every time.

After the HDP made a call to take to the streets against a possible massacre in Kobani, thousands of people protested in Kurdish-majority provinces as well as Ankara and İstanbul. While left parties also supported these protests, deaths also occurred with the onset of police violence. Street conflicts ensued. 42 people lost their lives from October 6 to 12, 2014.

According to a report by the Human Rights Association (İHD), 46 people died, 682 people were wounded and 323 people were arrested in the protests held between September 7 and 12, 2014. As reported by the AA, 31 people lost their lives, 221 citizens and 139 police officers were wounded.

(AS/SD)