Fatma Kesen
31 May 2024 - The court hearing of former HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş, charged with "insulting the president," lasted only two minutes and was postponed. The court decided to wait for the file from the Court of Cassation.
Selahattin Demirtaş, the former Co-Chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), is on trial for allegedly insulting the president during speeches he made at events between 2013 and 2017 in Ankara, Diyarbakır, Mersin, and Mardin. The 13th hearing of the four combined cases took place at the Mersin 14th Criminal Court of First Instance. Demirtaş participated in the hearing via the Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBIS) from Edirne Prison.
The hearing began with the identification of Demirtaş. Present at the hearing were Demirtaş's lawyers, including Mersin MP Ali Bozan from the People's Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), and numerous other attorneys. The court acknowledged that the same files were at the Court of Cassation stage.
In his defense statement, Demirtaş said, "I greet my party members and friends in Mersin. Five files have been merged in this case. I request that the deficiencies be addressed."
The prosecutor requested that the deficiencies be completed and that Demirtaş be penalized. The judge decided to wait for the files from the Court of Cassation and postponed the hearing to December 6, 2024. The hearing lasted two minutes.
