TİP holds protests in 36 cities against Can Atalay’s ongoing imprisonment

Duvar English

The Workers’ Party of Turkey (TİP) on June 6 held press statements at 85 different points across 36 provinces in protest of authorities' refusal to still release lawmaker Can Atalay.

Atalay, lawyer by profession, was arrested on April 25, 2022 after being sentenced to 18 years in prison in the Gezi trial. Despite being elected as a lawmaker from the southern Hatay province in the May 14 elections and receiving parliamentary mandate, Atalay is still imprisoned.

During the protest in Hatay, citizens held banners reading “End the unlawful imprisonment” and “Freedom to Can Atalay.” The TİP’s press statement pointed to the unconstitutionality of the situation and said, “The Court of Cassation is insistent on not applying the provision ordered by the Constitution.”

The TİP’s statement further recalled the Constitution’s Article 83 which says that a lawmaker who is alleged to have committed an offense before or after election cannot be interrogated, arrested or tried unless there is a decision of the Parliament with regards to this issue.

Meanwhile, TİP spokesperson and Istanbul lawmaker Sera Kadıgil submitted a parliamentary motion asking newly appointed Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç why Atalay is still being kept imprisoned.

“The Court of Cassation Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office is explicitly cheating against the law and is committing a crime. Can Atalay is being kept as a political hostage to take the revenge of Gezi Resistance,” she said in the parliamentary motion.

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