Turkish police brutally disperse HDP's protest, detain ex-MP's son
Turkish police have brutally dispersed a protest organized by the HDP and detained a former deputy's son. Journalists were also battered by police.
Duvar English
Turkish police on July 5 brutally dispersed a protest organized by the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in front of Ankara's Sincan Prison and detained a former deputy's son.
The HDP gathered in front of the prison to protest former HDP deputy Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu's continued imprisonment despite a Constitutional Court ruling that said he should be released.
Police battered the group and detained Gergerlioğlu's son Salih Gergerlioğlu. Journalists were also battered and detained as they tried to report the police's attack.
Journalist Büşra Taşkıran said that a police officer tried to break her arm. She also said that Melek Çetinkaya, who has been trying to prove his cadet son's innocence since the July 2016 failed coup attempt, was punched by police officers and was also detained, Taşkıran said.
Turkey's Constitutional Court ruled on July 1 that the rights of Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu were violated with his imprisonment on terrorism charges, opening the way for his release and restoration of his parliamentary status.
The top court said that Gergerlioğlu's right to be elected and engage in political activity as well as his right to personal freedom and security had been violated.
In an immediate notification sent to the Kocaeli Heavy Penal Court, which had ruled for Gergerlioğlu's imprisonment, the top court ordered the authorities to undertake the necessary procedures for Gergerlioğlu's release.
Gergerlioğlu's file will be sent to parliament for him to regain his status.
Gergerlioğlu had his parliamentary status removed in March and was jailed in April after a 2-1/2 year jail sentence on politically motivated "terror" charges.
The charges were related to a link he shared on Twitter to a news story about the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). He was found guilty in February 2018 of “spreading terrorism propaganda” on the basis of the social media post.
Thousands of members of the HDP, Turkey's third-largest party, have been tried as part of a years-long crackdown on the party.
Many prominent members of the party have been jailed, including its former co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ.
Last month, the Constitutional Court accepted an indictment calling for the HDP to be banned due to alleged ties to the PKK.
The HDP denies links to terrorism and has described the move to ban it as a "political coup."