An indictment prepared by a Diyarbakır prosecutor against pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Co-chairperson Selahattin Demirtaş seeks a jail sentence of two years and deprivation of the right to vote and stand for office over insult charges levied against the Kurdish politician.
In line with the 53rd article of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), Demirtaş is accused of openly insulting the Turkish state in a speech he made on Sept. 8, 2015
The indictment against Demirtaş has been accepted by the Diyarbakır 7th Penal Court of First Instance.
After the government’s lifting of parliamentary immunity in June, mainly applicable to HDP deputies in practice, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made clear that the new law would be used to prosecute HDP deputies on “terrorism” charges rather than lawmakers linked to corruption.