DİYARBAKIR - The trial against the imprisoned and subsequently deposed co-mayor of Sur, Cemal Özdemir, has been held in Diyarbakır. The public prosecutor's office is demanding up to 22 years imprisonment for the politician for trumped up terror charges.

 

The trial of HDP’s Cemal Özdemir, deposed co-mayor of Diyarbakır’s old Sur district, was opened on Tuesday before the 8th Heavy Penal Court. Up to 22 years imprisonment is sought for the Kurdish politician for "membership in a terrorist organization" and "terror propaganda".

 

Ceml Özdemir has been in custody since 23 December 2019. One day after his arrest he was removed from office at the instigation of the Turkish Ministry of the Interior. The prosecution accuses him of having participated in 22 rallies and press conferences between 2012 and 2019. The indictment also criminalizes the politician's Facebook posts and membership in the Solidarity Association of the Families of the Disappeared (MEYA-DER). The association, which was working for the clarification of the fate of thousands of "disappeared" people, was banned by emergency decree in the course of the state of emergency in Turkey. Özdemir's father is one of the people who disappeared in police custody. Further accusations against him are based on the statements of an alleged "anonymous witness".

 

Özdemir attended the hearing via the video conferencing system SEGBIS from the high-security prison in Erzurum province where he is held in custody. The politician was represented in court by lawyers Şilan Çelik and Mehmet Öner. The trial was observed by family members, co-chair of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Diyarbakır provincial association, Hülya Alökmen Uyanık, HDP member of parliament Dersim Dağ and numerous lawyers.

 

Özdemir rejected the accusations against him and declared that he had been pursuing legal politics for nine years. The court ordered the continuation of the pre-trial detention "due to the seriousness of the charges". The trial will resume on 16 April.

 

38 mayors of the HDP deposed

 

Since the political coup against the HDP, 38 co-mayors have been removed from office. Arrest warrants have been issued for 27 of them and 25 are in prison. In six municipalities, the mayors elected last March could not even take office because the election committee refused to recognise them. The defeated AKP candidates were appointed in their place.

 

Even before the local elections on 31 March, the president of the Turkish regime Tayyip Erdoğan had announced that he would occupy all HDP city administrations in the event of winning the elections. Thus, the Turkish government is practising a policy aptly described by the Kurdish population as a "coup d'état".