23 January 2017•Update: 23 January 2017
By Aziz Aslan, Serdar Acil
ANKARA, DIYARBAKIR, Turkey
A lawmaker from the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) who was accused of propagating terrorist propaganda was released, a Turkish court said Monday.
Diyarbakir's eighth High Criminal Court ruled for the acquittal and release of HDP Diyarbakir lawmaker Nimetullah Erdogmus.
He was accused of attending, along with HDP co-leader Selahattin Demirtas, a so-called “civilian Friday prayer” in Turkey’s southeastern Diyarbakir province in March 2016 in protest of Turkish security forces' operations in the region against the PKK terrorist organization.
Meanwhile, another HDP lawmaker Sirri Sureyya Onder, who has also been accused of spreading terrorist propaganda, testified before a Turkish prosecutor in Ankara on Monday. A court order had been issued for Onder to provide testimony.
Onder and his lawyer left the Ankara courthouse after he gave his testimony.
Last November, 13 HDP lawmakers were arrested and 10 of them, including HDP co-leaders Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, remain in custody awaiting trial on terrorism-related charges.
The lawmakers face prosecution under anti-terrorism legislation after their parliamentary immunity was lifted.
The government has accused the HDP of having links to the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and the EU.
