Reason for the arrest of the Co-Mayors: Anonymous witness statements and demos they attended

2019-11-28 12:08:53


	MARDİN - It was learned that the HDP co- mayors of Savur, Mazıdağı and Derik Municipalities were arrested on the grounds that they participated in the demonstrations to support the hunger strikers and some anonymous witness statements. The fact that an anonymous witness claimed that Co- Mayor Esmez attended a demo with a gun, attracted attention.

	Co- mayor of Savur Municipality Gülistan Öncü, Co-Mayor of Mazıdağı Municipality Nalan Özaydın and Co- Mayor of Derik Municipality Mülkiye Esmez from People's Democratic Party (HDP) were taken into custody on November 15, dismissed from office, replaced with a trustee and were arrested on November 26 with the accusation of 'being a member to an illegal organization, after a detention period of 12 days.

	 

	The court claimed that Savur Co- Mayor Gülistan Öncü attended different demonstrations supporting the hunger strikers and that those demonstrations were made with the instruction of the 'organization'. The court that deemed membership to Democratic Society Congress (DTK) a crime, added the statements of the anonymous witness "1KO3SOV0A8" to their decision and arrested the Öncü. 

	 

	The same accusations were also made for Derik Co- Mayor Mülkiye Esmez with the same sentences. An anonymous witness called "1AN4K0AR2A", clamed that Co-Mayor Esmez financially helped a member of the organization. Another anonymous witness "T7AL5AIS", claimed that Co-Mayor Esmez participated in the 'trench/barricade' prostests with a gun and that's why she was chosen candidate for mayorship.

	 

	Mazıdağı Municipality Co-Mayor Nalan Özaydın's arrest was also based on the same anonymous witness statements and allegations of participation in the actions and activities related to hunger strikes.