HDP Co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş was meant to attend today's hearing in Ankara in person, for the first time since his imprisonment last November, but he was not taken to Ankara because he refused to be put in handcuffs.
The third hearing of the lawsuit against Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş will be held 35th Penal Court of First Instance in Ankara today.
HDP Co-chair is jailed since 4 November 2016 and he was set to appear in court for the first time since his imprisonment as he has attended the hearings so far through the video conferencing system SEGBİS. He refused to make his defense through SEGBİS and was therefore due to appear in court today.
However, Demirtaş has not been taken to the court, 245 days after his imprisonment, because he refused to be put in handcuffs during his referral to court.
HDP Co-chair is being tried on charge of "public humiliation of the Turkish government, the judiciary, the military or law enforcement agency”. The charge is based on one of his social media sharing.
The following phrases are included in aforementioned social media sharing: “All armies are desperate against the people. The army of Tayyip Erdoğan’s palace has been already defeated, they will be defeated again”.
