Diyarbakır – Former co-chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), Figen Yüksekdağ, testified that soldiers opened fire on her and her delegation during the curfews in Silvan, a district in Diyarbakır Province, Turkey, threatening her with a gun.
Yüksekdağ, along with former Group Deputy Chairpersons İdris Baluken and Çağlar Demirel, and MPs Altan Tan, Ahmet Yıldırım, Ertuğrul Kürkçü, Mehmet Ali Aslan, and Saadet Becerikli, are on trial for "resisting to prevent officials from performing their duties," "insulting a public official," and "insulting the president." The case is being heard at the Silvan Criminal Court of First Instance.
Yüksekdağ, who had been ordered to attend the previous hearing under duress, participated via the Audio-Visual Information System (SEGBİS) from the Kocaeli No. 1 F-Type Closed Prison where she is currently detained.
During the hearing, attended by her lawyers, Yüksekdağ emphasized that she and her delegation went to Silvan during a curfew to address severe human rights violations. She detailed the events, explaining that they were there to help resolve issues and prevent further escalation.
"They aimed to kill me from the first day!"
Recounting the first day in Silvan, Yüksekdağ said they faced harsh intervention while trying to march with the people, with a tear gas canister aimed directly at her head. She described ongoing communications with both the ministry and the governor's office at the time. Despite this, security forces did not engage with them during their visit and instead confronted them with barricades and special operations gendarmerie.
"State forces tried to ambush us"
Yüksekdağ described an ambush by state security forces as they attempted to enter a besieged neighborhood. She recounted how they were fired upon in the street with no police officers around to negotiate or explain the situation.
"Two civilians died in the attack"
During the attack, Yüksekdağ noted that two civilians were killed, and she was also threatened with death. "They fired intermittently for two minutes. We ducked, and some of the shots were fired into the air while others were directed at us. We tried to protect the people in that chaos. Only MPs remained in the area. We later learned that one of our friends, who was among the injured, died after a week in the hospital. His aunt, trying to take him to the hospital, also died," she said.
"Soldier threatened me, saying 'I will shoot you'"
Yüksekdağ concluded by calling for her acquittal, accusing the police of wrongful intervention and provocation. She detailed an incident where a soldier pointed a gun at her and threatened to shoot, to which she responded defiantly. She denied all charges against her.
The prosecution requested that missing elements of the case be addressed. The court decided to reject Yüksekdağ's request to confront the plaintiffs but approved the request to send video footage of the incident to her prison. The next hearing was scheduled for September 19 at 9:35 a.m.
Demirtaş: "They were going to kill Figen Yüksekdağ, we prevented it"
Former HDP Co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş provided information about the Silvan incident during a hearing of the Kobani trial on January 3, involving 108 defendants, including 18 in custody. Demirtaş claimed, "They were going to kill Figen Yüksekdağ in Silvan to provoke further unrest, but we prevented it and got her out of there. Efkan Ala admitted in Parliament that there are forces beyond their control. This is recorded in the parliamentary minutes."
