Pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Siirt deputy Besime Konca, who was released by a Batman court on May 3 after spending five months in pre-trial detention and again detained on Monday at Batman Airport due to an arrest warrant issued by another Batman court on May 8, has been arrested, the Dihaber news website has reported.
The new ruling came after a prosecutor appealed the decision for the release of Konca, who was arrested on Dec. 13, 2016 on charges of membership in an armed terror organization and disseminating the propaganda of a terror organization.
Accusing the judiciary of working under political orders, the HDP called for the immediate release of Konca.
Turkey has stepped up its crackdown on Kurdish politicians in recent months. Trustees have been appointed to dozens of municipalities in the country’s predominantly Kurdish Southeast, while hundreds of local Kurdish politicians as well as 10 HDP deputies including the party’s co-chairs have been arrested on terror charges.
The developments have attracted widespread criticism from the region and Western countries. (turkishminute.com) May 30, 2017
