The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Law and Human Rights Commission filed a preliminary defence with the Constitutional Court  (AYM) regarding the closure case against the party.

Members of the party, including HDP Co-Chairman in charge of the Law and Human Rights Commission Ümit Dede, Law Commission member Lawyer Maviş Aydın, Party Assembly (PM) member Lawyer Doğan Erbaş, and HDP legal deputies Mehmet Rüştü Tiryaki, submitted a 173-page defence. It was given to the AYM along with one extra folder.

'TOMORROW WE WILL ANNOUNCE OUR DEFENCE'

In a statement to the press outside the Constitutional Court, HDP Co-Chair Dede indicated that they will present a defence upon the merits after the Supreme Court Chief Public Prosecutor's Office issues its opinion and added, “The prior indictment was rejected by the Constitutional Court. This was critical data for us. We also provided our defence in this context. We will present the highlights of our defence at a news conference tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. at the party headquarters."

Dede stated that some of their requests were rejected, apart from the request for additional time from the Constitutional Court and for the notification of the indictment to individuals who face a political ban. He continued; “Inadequate information was submitted to us regarding the evidence concerning the allegations made by the Court of Cassation Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in the indictment, which we believe will remain as a black mark in Turkey's history. In this state, we wanted the evidence to be disclosed to us so that our right of defense would not be restricted, but these requests were not accepted. We asked that this evidence be communicated together with the indictment to our 451 friends, concerning whom a political ban is demanded, but it was denied too. With the current version of the file, we prepared our preliminary defence and presented it to the Constitutional Court.”