Holding a press conference in the parliament today, HDP (Peoples' Democratic Party) Spokesperson Osman Baydemir exposed a “secret” document sent by the Turkish Ministry of Justice to judiciary that asks to “do the necessary” against HDP Co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş.

Recalling the rapid increase in the number of summaries of proceedings against HDP deputies in line with the statements and instructions of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Baydemir said “There is a unit within the Ministry of Justice that sends instructions to the judiciary in order to prepare a summary of proceedings on every single word and statement of the HDP MPs. Today I am exposing a document proving that the judiciary operates on instructions, that justice is trampled on and that the 138th article of the Constitutions is explicitly violated.”

Baydemir said the document was conveyed to their side inadvertently by Diyarbakır Penal Court of First Instance, stating the followings:

“HDP Co-chair Demirtaş held a press conference in Diyarbakır on September 6th, 2015 and his remarks were widely covered by the media afterwards. The Ministry of Justice therewith takes action the very same day. The Ministry's General Directorate of Penal Affairs sends an instruction to Diyarbakır Prosecution Office together with a file consisting of Demirtaş's press statements in attachment. In the instruction, the General Directorate of Penal Affairs says 'I request you to take necessary action and give information to our side after the action'. This is a secret document sent by the Justice Ministry General Director of Penal Affairs to Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor on behalf of the Minister of Justice. The public prosecutor prepares a summary of proceedings against Demirtaş the same day as soon as they receive the instruction.”

Baydemir stressed that this was “the document of revenge by the political rival of Selahattin Demirtaş, the document of the efforts to eliminate democratic politics”.