Foreign envoys prevented from following former HDP co-chair Demirtaş’s trial: Germany

ANKARA

German Ambassador to Turkey Martin Erdmann and a the envoys of a number of other countries were not allowed to enter the Sincan courtroom to follow the trial of former Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş on Feb. 14.

“Ambassador Erdmann, along with other country’s diplomats, wanted to follow the Demirtaş case in Sincan today. But they were not allowed to enter the courtroom. The group is waiting on developments,” read a post on the embassy’s Twitter account.

The Ankara court is continuing the second hearing of the case into the jailed Demirtaş, who was absent from the first hearing.

The HDP's former co-chair was arrested on Nov. 4, 2016, along with 10 other HDP deputies.

The indictment, prepared in February 2017, accuses him of “leading a terrorist organization,” “inciting hate and crime in public” and “campaigning for a terrorist organization,” demanding between 42 years and 142 years in jail.