The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday requested permission to proceed in a criminal case against Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Co-chair Pervin Buldan and three other HDP deputies for disseminating terrorist propaganda, the Diken news website reported.
The prosecutor cited a speech by Buldan in Siirt province, İmam Taşçıer’s social media posts and a speech in Diyarbakır, a speech by Alican Önlü in Tunceli and an address given by Berdan Öztürk in Ağrı as evidence.
The request has been filed with the Justice Ministry, which will send it to the Turkish parliament for a vote if approved.
Deputies in parliament are immune from prosecution during their term in office and can only be prosecuted on criminal charges if the legislature votes to revoke their immunity.
Several other HDP deputies were also under the pressure of similar requests to prosecute suggesting that party members support the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
According to other co-chair, Sezai Temelli, 6,000 HDP members are currently in jail, including former Co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ.