The panel of judges asked for an opinion from the prosecutor in the hearing of Selahattin Demirtaş and Sırrı Süreyya Önder and ordered their lawyers to be removed from the court room, while soldiers surrounded the lawyers.
HDP’s hostage co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş and Ankara MP Sırrı Süreyya Önder who is on trial without remand are accused of “terrorist propaganda”, and the fifth hearing of the case filed at the Istanbul High Criminal Court No.26 started in the court room within the Silivri Prison Campus. Demirtaş is not attending the hearing, while Önder is present. HDP’s former co-chair Serpil Kemalbay, Labor Movement Party (Emekçi Hareket Partisi - EHP) Chairwoman Sibel Uzun, Peoples’ Democratic Party (Halkların Demokratik Partisi - HDP) MPs Erol Dora and Hüda Kaya and Human Rights Association (İnsan Hakları Derneği - İHD) administrators are observing the hearing, which is also monitored by an international committee. Outside the prison, one citizen had his scarf with Demirtaş’s face embroidered on it confiscated, with the claim that it is “not allowed in the vicinity of the prison”.
DEFENSE SURROUNDED
Right after the hearing started, the Court Chair asked for an opinion from the prosecutor, and the defense lawyers objected. Then the Court Chair ordered the lawyers to be removed from the court room, alleging that they disrupted the order of the hearing. Soldiers surrounded the lawyers, while the court panel left the hall, leaving their robes behind.
The tense wait in the court room continues.
