Former Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Eren Erdem’s father on Thursday called on his jailed son to halt a hunger strike, the Artı Gerçek news website reported.
Erdem, who has been in pretrial detention for seven months on terrorism charges, on Monday decided to go on a hunger strike to protest his trial.
A CHP deputy on Monday said Erdem had “emptied his refrigerator” and was about to launch a hunger strike that he referred to as “justice fasting,” while his lawyers were trying to talk him out of it.
Erdem was first arrested in June 2018, just five days after he failed to secure a seat in the legislature in the parliamentary elections. Charged with “aiding a terrorist organization,” he faces a prison sentence of between nine and 22 years.
“Think about your son, your mother, those who love you. I would like to reach out to politicians, writers: We have failed to convince our son, please talk him out of it,” his father, Hasan Erdem, said in a video message aired on Halk TV.
The elder Erdem was fired on Jan. 8 after protesting a prosecutor who objected to a decision to release his son.
The former CHP deputy was rearrested after the prosecutor’s objection.