Selahattin and Başak Demirtaş denounce RTÜK probe

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Başak Demirtaş, the spouse of jailed politician Selahattin Demirtaş, has slammed the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) Supreme Board, which has launched a probe against FOX TV over her remarks.

CLICK - RTÜK fines on broadcasters (Media Monitoring Database)

Sending a message from Edirne Type F Prison, where he has been behind bars since November 2016, former Co-Chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtaş has said that "his family has been turned into a target" due to the television program.

In a brief statement about the RTÜK probe, Başak Demirtaş has tweeted: "While it is free to cast aspersions on Selahattin and his friends on every channel day and night for five years, while it is free to accuse them, is it a crime that I talk about my spouse, whose innocence has been confirmed by the ECtHR Grand Chamber ruling, on TV just a little bit?

"It is unfortunately both shameful and sad. So, apparently, the lies and aspersions of five years can fall apart in the face of the truth for an hour. There is no need for so much attack. It should have been known that all lies and created perception would not last forever in the face of the truth."

In his message about the issue on Twitter, Selahattin Demirtaş has also stated, "The lynching mobs who turned my family into a target on TV screens last evening should know that if a single member of family comes to the slightest harm, you are responsible for it. Just as I will not forget the great-hearted solidarity of millions, I will never forget this, either."

"My heart beats with you, Başak, just like millions," he has added.

Mahsuni Karaman, an attorney for Demirtaş, has written on Twitter, "There is not a problem with even a single word of what Başak Demirtaş said on Fox yesterday. Actually, the 'problem' is not what she said, but her rightfulness. They do not want this rightfulness to be heard, to be seen. Another aim is to make society afraid. In fact, nobody is afraid. And now, no more." (KÖ/SD)