Party spokesperson Osman Baydemir issued a statement on the fifth day of the “Conscience and Justice Vigil” launched by the Peoples’ Democratic Party (Halkların Demokratik Partisi - HDP) in Amed’s Ekin Ceren Park.

Baydemir started by dedicating today’s statement to the Saturday Mothers, who have been holding demonstrations for 644 weeks to receive the bones of their children, and said: “Conscience is a right, and justice is the manifestation of that right. We remember Mother Berfo. The fascists should know that Mother Berfo will make them pay. The Justice Watch is the hand of all Mother Berfo’s and their conscience.”

“DEMİRTAŞ IS IMPRISONED BECAUSE THEY FEAR JUSTICE”

Baydemir said the following:

“Our co-chairs and MPs have been imprisoned for 8 months and 25 days. They were shaking their fists at us, they said ‘We will put Demirtaş on trial’. It has been 8 months, there has been no trial. It is unclear when the hearing will be. Why don’t they hold the hearing? The public mistakenly thinks Demirtaş is in prison because he is on trial for the case he is arrested on. No, Demirtaş is a hostage in the case he was arrested on. The 60+ cases he is tried on don’t call for his remand. They fear the truth coming out. This order won’t last. Justice and conscience are such strong concepts that if a society loses its sense of justice, it will fall. A society that loses its conscience has no chance to leave a legacy for the children in a bright future.”

TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT: WHY DON’T YOU ANNOUNCE THE VERDICT?

“They can never keep us from our efforts to leave a dignified peace to our children. We are calling on the Constitutional Court: You had issued a judicial opinion that members of the parliament can’t be remanded while awaiting trial. It has been 8 months and 25 days, you haven’t upheld this decree you signed. Where is the justice and conscience in that? Why don’t you announce your verdict? Whoever you are afraid of as the judiciary, you have a responsibility to declare. There is a world of difference in justice and conscience between a persecuted political movement’s constituents calling on the Constitutional Court and the governing party issuing threats against the judiciary. Uphold your judicial opinion. Uphold the law, and do what your robes demand of you. Don’t hurt the social conscience more.”

“YOU LOST HERE”

Baydemir stressed that the trustees appointed to Kurdistan’s municipalities show incompetence and added that the practice of trustees is the greatest attack on the will of the people. Baydemir called on the AKP Leader Tayyip Erdoğan and said: “We raced for Diyarbakır Municipality in 2004, and you lost. In 2009 you said you wanted Diyarbakır and I said Diyarbakır is the fortress of this people. We won again with 66%. You always wanted Diyarbakır. Everybody is entitled to want it, but this people did not hold you in favor. You think invading this city through tyranny after you failed to convince them with your ideas means you conquered it. You are wrong. Appointing trustees to Diyarbakır show incompetence and defeat. They day you appointed trustees in these lands, you lost.”

Baydemir also mentioned the posters of Erdoğan on the streets of Amed and said: “Every resident of Diyarbakır sees a horror movie actor who fears his own shadow when they see those posters.”

Baydemir stressed that if there were local elections tomorrow, the people of the region would vote for DBP and HDP again and said: “Once more, we challenge the AKP Leader, come and let’s set up the ballots and let the people of Diyarbakır vote, your trustee can run and our candidates will run as well. You have your companies hold weekly polls. The metropolitan municipalities of Diyarbakır, Van and Mardin will go to DBP-HDP again with 60-65%. This people reject your tyranny.”

RELEASE OF ISIS MEMBERS

HDP Spokesperson Osman Baydemir pointed out that the ISIS members are released one by one and concluded his speech with: “The cruelty ISIS has inflicted on these lands knows no bounds. They attacked the June 5 rally. They attacked Suruç, they attacked the Ankara Station on October 10. One of the primary suspects in this attack has been released. Two policemen lost their lives in a raid on a cell house in this city. Ammunition was seized in that house. People whose fingerprints were found on those weapons have been released. Today, 38 suspects were released in Antep. They are being released one by one. Were promises made to them before these attacks? The government must announce if any organs of the state are in talks with ISIS. While Demirtaş, Ahmet Şık, MPs and defenders of the truth are in prison.”