HDP co-chair slams judiciary in Istanbul rally

“We do not fear being tried, but we do not believe there is an independent judiciary to try us,” HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş said regarding the lifting of immunities during the rally, which was conducted under heavy security measures.

“There were political instructions to lift our immunities; we are sent to the court for political vengeance; a top court judge was participating in a tea collecting ceremony with the president. Can they conduct a just trial? We reject it for this reason,” he said.

There are certain prosecutors who are too eager to try them, Demirtaş said. “They are waiting in aspiration to shine for the palace. When we face them, we will see who is trying whom. We will not allow you to try us because you are not an organ of the judiciary because you have lost your judiciary features with political instructions. We will not be extras playing in such a trial. On the contrary, we will try the mentality of the person in the palace in those court halls.” 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was not able to stop the HDP in the elections even with a thousand tricks, was to trying to eliminate it with the support of the other two groups in parliament and the judiciary, Demirtaş said. “I want to address them now. If justice will not raise its voice today, those members of the judiciary who believe in rule of law, if they do not raise their voices today, please do not raise a voice about anything again. The guy has surrendered justice; those who believe in law and in the justice system have unfortunately kept quiet. The guy is able to say that he does not recognize the Constitutional Court’s decision. He can instruct the prosecutor, judge and the court. He takes a high court judge along like a seasonal worker and goes to harvest tea. He looks him in the eye and instructs him,” Demirtaş said.