The hearing of former HDP Co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş contínues on the third day.

The second hearing in the case former Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş is on remand for continues in Ankara. The third day of the hearing started in the courtroom setup inside the Sincan Prison Campus. Demirtaş will conclude his defense today and the court will issue an interim verdict on the demands.

The presiding judge had mentioned in previous days that they are the committee who heard the coup cases, and stated that they would not be extending Demirtaş 's hearing because they have the Coup Cases  on Monday.

HDP MPs and 50 lawyers are following the hearing. The presiding judge objected to the lawyers sharing photographs from the hearing.

The presiding judge then handed 3 DVD's that include a Scan of the complete Case file to Demirtaş, who had stated on the first day of the hearing that he hadn't seen the appendices to the case file, that he hadn’t been provided the appendices despite submitting a request, and that when he was finally given the documents, he was told that there was a fee.

"THE DTK IS ABSOLUTELY LEGITIMATE"

Demirtaş started his defense by stating the following on the attempts to criminalize the Democratic Society Congress (Demokratik Toplum Kongresi - DTK): “The DTK is an absolutely legitimate institution. It is a structure that is comprised of NGO's, academics and political parties. You cannot cite a single act of violence the DTK has committed to date. The only thing the DTK has done is to hold workshops and meetings. The parties that were thought impossible to come together have come together in the DTK. We sat around a table and discussed our ideas. The DTK is still active because it is not illegal. It is not a party to the violence, it is an alternative to it. That is how the DTK has self-organized. It is valued not just by us, but by Various political parties and states.”

"THE PHOTOGRAPHS WERE TAKEN BY A STATE OFFICIAL"

In his defense, Demirtaş also spoke about the photographs taken in Qandil and Imrali:

"We had our photographs taken in Qandil and Imrali. These were not Souvenirs, they were photographs intended to show the gravity of the issue. We didn't Smuggle in a contraband camera. The photographs were taken by the officer in there. They were given to us in digital format with the seal of the Ministry of Justice on them. And the photographs taken in Qandil were distributed With approval from the government. Because these photographs were signs that this process was being handled seriously. Now that the 'solution process' has failed, these photographs become evidence in the case."

In the defense, Demirtaş also said, "There is not a single speech or act that I can't stand by."