Recently arrested on "terror" charges, HDP Izmir co-chair Berna Çelik was subjected to strip search and sexist insults in prison. Her lawyers have filed a complaint with the public prosecutor's office.
HDP Izmir co-chair Berna Çelik, imprisoned in Izmir on alleged suspicion of membership in a "terrorist organisation", has been subjected to strip search in prison, announced her lawyers Fatma Demirer and Sidal Bayrak on Thursday. The incident allegedly took place earlier this week at the closed Şakran Women's Prison in Aliağa, north of Izmir. Because Çelik resisted the body search, which she described as "degrading", she was also subjected to sexist insults by the prison staff. Her lawyers have filed a complaint with the public prosecutor's office.
Berna Çelik is co-chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) provincial association in the Aegean province of Izmir. After three days in custody at the Turkish police's counter-terrorism department, the politician was detained on Monday along with Çınar Altan, the male co-chair of the HDP provincial association, and the co-chair of the HDP in Buca district, Nihat Türk. The charge against all of them is membership of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
