ANKARA (Bianet) — The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has prepared summaries of proceedings for nine lawmakers from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), seeking to lift their legislative immunity.
The HDP lawmakers, along with 99 other defendants, are facing aggravated life sentences for having allegedly organized the deadly “Kobane protests” in Kurdish-majority cities in October 2014.
The summaries of proceedings have been sent to the Ministry of Justice to be submitted to the parliament for a vote after being reviewed in relevant committees.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) have the parliamentary majority to approve the action.
Those being investigated are HDP Co-Chair Pervin Buldan, parliamentary group deputy chairs Meral Danıs-Bestas and Saruhan Oluç, and Paylan, Hüda Kaya, Sezai Temelli, Pero Dundar, Fatma Kurtulan and Serpil Kemalbay-Pekgözegü.
Dozens of HDP politicians were detained on September 25 after the investigation was launched and 17 were later remanded in custody.
The indictment charging the suspects with 25 different offenses, including “managing a terrorist organization” and “attempted overthrow,” was accepted on January 7.
The protests in question began in late September 2014 when ISIS launched an offensive to take over Kobane, a Kurdish town in northern Syria. Incidents between different protesting groups and the police response to protesters turned violent from October 6, resulting in the deaths of 42 people.
While the government has accused HDP of orchestrating the protests and held it responsible for the losses, the party says most of the killed were its supporters and the incidents have not been effectively investigated.
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