DIYARBAKIR, Turkey
The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in eastern Diyarbakir province has charged Democratic Party (HDP) co-Chairman Selahattin Demirtas with insulting the state of Turkey and the Turkish president in his recent remarks.
According to the statement from the prosecutor's office Wednesday, Demirtas was charged with "openly insulting the Turkish nation, the Republic of Turkey, the state institutions and its organs, openly inciting crime, insulting the president and making terrorist propaganda".
The statement added that a motion was sent to the Turkish Ministry of Justice demanding a "permit for investigation" and "abolishment of legislative immunity" in line with 83th article of the Turkish constitution.
On August 11, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had sued Demirtas for causing “moral damages”, slander and invectiveness.
Erdogan’s team of lawyers, Fatih Sahin, Burhanetin Sevenan and Muammer Cemaloglu, had filed two separate lawsuits, demanding 70,000 Turkish liras (or around $25,000), against Demirtas at a court in Ankara.
The August 11 charges against Demirtas stemmed from his remarks that he allegedly made against Erdogan at an HDP group meeting on July 28 and during a visit at the headquarters of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed in Ankara after the July 20 Suruc incident in southeastern Turkey that left 32 people dead.
Demirtas was accused of not taking into account the public’s interest while criticizing and "violating President Erdogan’s personal rights".
