ANKARA - The Constitutional Court sent its ruling of rights violation to the local court five days later and the local court gave a ruling of release for dismissed HDP MP Gergerlioğlu. He held a press statement at the HDP Central Office following his release.

 

Jailed politician Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu was released from the Sincan Prison in the capital city of Ankara yesterday evening (July 6).

 

Five days before his release, the Constitutional Court concluded that the "right to be elected and to engage in political activities" and "the right to personal liberty and security" of the dismissed Kocaeli MP of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) were violated. This ruling was sent to the Kocaeli 2nd Heavy Penal Court yesterday and it gave a ruling of release afterwards.

 

Following this ruling of release, Gergerlioğlu was released from the Sincan Prison in the evening hours. Salih Gergerlioğlu, the son of the politician, has shared a picture with his father, tweeting, "He is free now."

 

Stripped of his MP status and sent to prison afterwards, Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu made an individual application to the Constitutional Court. The top court gave a ruling of rights violation on July 1. The delay in releasing him in line with this ruling was protested by his family and lawyers.

 

PRESS STATEMENT AT THE HDP HEADQUARTERS

 

After he was released yesterday evening, Gergerlioğlu went to the HDP Central Office and held a press statement. He was welcomed by the HDP executives and the MPs in front of the HDP Central Office.

 

In his press statement, Gergerlioğlu said, "I say, 'Where did we leave off?' Our life is a resistance and resisting means living. We said this till the end. We said, 'Long live the fraternity of the peoples.' That was how I left the Parliament and that is also how I will go back there."

 

GERGERLİOĞLU THANKS THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

 

Gergerlioğlu thanked the Constitutional Court for carrying out the appeal proceedings in a swift manner and gave a very clear ruling:

 

"Unlawfulness is extreme. I was aggrieved at the local court, the court of appeals and the Court of Cassation; then, this ruling was quickly read out at the Parliament. Then, the last place that we would turn to was the Constitutional Court and it gave such a clear and definite ruling.

 

"I would like to thank the Constitutional Court very much. It carried out the proceedings really fast. The ruling was handed down in a unanimous vote. Those judicial processes must be ashamed of this.

 

"And there are hundreds of thousands of people like us. I was discharged because I wanted peace. It was apparently not enough; after I came here as the deputy of the people, these games of the judiciary continued. They stripped me of my MP status and I was put in a dungeon.

 

"But we do not kneel down, we do not bow down."

 

I WAS HELD IN PRISON FOR 6 MORE DAYS WITH NO REASON

 

Referring to the delay in releasing him following the Constitutional Court ruling, HDP's Gergerlioğlu said: "They made me serve 6 more days behind bars for no reason. Even though the Constitutional Court gave a clear ruling, I was kept in prison for 6 more days. But they should know that my release is a harbinger of the freedom of our other friends.

 

"It is a harbinger of an end to the attacks targeting our party. May the people smile, I smile deep inside, my heart smiles."

 

'THEY FAILED TO PIN ME DOWN'

 

Further in his statement, Gergerlioğlu said: "I was in extremely high spirits during my 3 months behind bars. I was extremely fine, I protected myself physically, I got thinner and younger in a sense. I grew a beard. It is almost like a new Ömer now. I have been spiritually refreshed, it is good for me. They wanted to pin me down, but they have failed to do so. We were right, we never stepped back, we were always in good spirits, we were really motivated. We constantly exchanged letters with friends. We met the friends behind bars as part of Kobanî trial. We were really in good spirits. We followed the Parliament inside. I thought that my status as an MP was not over. I produced, I did everything I could, I wrote articles and poems, I worked on books."