Yüksel Koç, the former co-chair of the Congress of Kurdistan Democratic Communities in Europe (KCDK-E), was detained following a raid on his house in Bremen on Tuesday.

The Kurdish politician appeared before a judge in Karlsruhe today and was remanded in custody under Section 129b of the German Criminal Code on charges of “membership of a terrorist organization.” Following the ruling, Koç was sent to Bremen Prison.

Activists staged a demonstration in protest at the German state’s criminalization policies against the Kurdish population. A press statement was read in Kurdish, Turkish, and German on behalf of the group who joined the demo in the city center.

Zübeyde Zümrüt, co-chair of KCKD-E, delivered a speech referring to the ‘Call for Peace and a Democratic Society’ made by Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan on February 27. Zümrüt stated that while the German state welcomed both Öcalan's call and the PKK’s following decision to disband and disarm, its actions contradicted this stance. She demanded the immediate release of Yüksel Koç.