Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş was detained in a house raid in his home in Amed and sent to Edirne Type F Closed Prison on November 4. HDP Hakkari MP Abdullah Zeydan was arrested on the same day, and they have both been kept alone in separate cells for 11 days. An important piece of information has surfaced on the situation of Demirtaş and Zeydan.

FREQUENTLY DISTURBED

It has come to light that Zeydan and Demirtaş are not kept in the A and B blocks where the political prisoners from HDP are, but in C Block, where the Al-Qaeda convicts and problematic ordinary prisoners are. Reports say Al-Qaeda prisoners to the right of Demirtaş’s cell frequently chant takbeer and violent prisoners to his left chant racist slogans.

PRISON ADMINISTRATION WAITING FOR THE MINISTRY

Demirtaş and Zeydan are forced to pass by mentioned prisoners’ cells as they are taken from their cells for lawyer’s visits or visitations. Demirtaş and Zeydan appealed to the prison administration to stay with the political prisoners as they face a threat in such circumstances, but the prison administration only said they were “waiting for a reply from the Ministry of Justice, and an arrangement will be made according to the outcome”.

AKP MP HAD ISSUED THREATS

The current situation brings AKP İzmir MP Hüseyin Kocabıyık’s tweet sent the other day to mind: Kocabıyık had issued such threats as: “In case of an assassination against the statesmen, the people will storm the prisons and hang all PKK and FETÖ members, this is what the people talk about.”