Demirtas: I am in custody with political motives, I do not request my release

2019-01-25 14:00:31


	 

	ANKARA- Selahattin Demirtaş stated in the hearing he was jailed pending trial that he is in custody with political motives and said: 'I do not want my release'. Next hearing is postponed to April 24-25.

	 

	People's Democratic Party former Co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş, who was staying in Edirne F-Type Closed Prison have attended the hearing via video conference (SEGBIS). His attorneys and many spectators were present. HDP deputies Rüştü Tiryaki, Abdullah Koç and HDP former deputies Nihat Akdoğan and Hamit Geylani followed the hearing.

	 

	 

	Demirtaş who spoke at the beginning of the hearing stating that it is not in the court board's hands to release him and that he is being detained with political motives, said: 'I do not want my release.'

	 

	The prosecution claimed that the crimes directed against Demirtas were among the catalog crimes, and that the judicial control practices were not sufficient in view of the lower and upper criminal limits of the allegations and they requested the continuation of his detention.

	 

	The court board announced their decision after the attorney's made their defence and postponed the trial to April 24-25, 2019.

	 

	ABOUT THE CASE

	 

	Demirtaş is charged with up to 142 years of imprisonment on 'Organizing and managing an illegal organization', 'Praising the crime and the criminal', 'Propaganda of an illegal organization'. The trial is being held in Ankara 19th Criminal Court for security reasons.