HDP (Peoples’ Democratic Party) MP Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu was mistreated and dragged out of his apartment without shoes while he was arrested Friday evening. The deputy for Kocaeli had been deprived of his parliamentary mandate on March 17 because of a final conviction. The authorities had set a deadline of ten days for him to be detained. Gergerlioğlu had announced that he would not comply with the request and would stay in his apartment. The MP for Kocaeli was taken to the hospital due to chest and heart pain after being taken into custody. Footages and pictures of the arrest showed that he was subjected to violence by the police while he was taken into custody. Today afternoon, Gergerlioğlu was taken to Sincan F Type High Security Prison after his treatment in hospital was interrupted as pressure was put on doctors to send him to prison.

A video message recorded before Gergerlioğlu’s arrest has been published on his Twitter account today. The message by the HDP deputy includes the following:

“This video was recorded before my imprisonment. I will probably be in jail as you watch it now. I would like to say this, attempts were made to deprive me of my deputation through fraudulence. This was done on paper but I am not one of those deputies on paper. I am one of those deputies who are in the hearts of the people. I will fight this unlawfulness to the end. Let everyone know this because people have entrusted us. This treatment against us is in fact directed against the people. It is not me who is jailed, but 90 thousand people who voted for me. Furthermore, 83 million people whose representation I received are subjected to great injustice and their will has been imprisoned. I received the votes of 90 thousand people from Kocaeli but I have been a deputy of the people, of 83 million people, and will continue to be so.

No usurper or waylayer will strip us of this. No power will ever be able to kill the hope of Turkey’s peoples for peace. We will continue raising our voice for human rights. We will again demand an end to the KHK (decree-law) purge, to the injustice regarding the Kurdish question and rights violations in prisons. We will again demand an end to abduction, torture, strip-search and other forms of ill-treatment. We will not back down from our words. I am a deputy of the people, even in prison. One does not serve as a deputy in parliament alone. This is done in the heart of the people; I know this very well. I also know that people from all segments of society pray for me. We will definitively return. No tyranny will ever stop us.”

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