JINHA

AMED – Figen Yüksekdağ, HDP general co-chair and parliamentary representative for Van province, has been brought before a court in Diyarbakır. Figen, defending herself before the prosecutor, said, “I demand nothing and expect nothing from you. Only the people who elected me can interrogate me about my political activities.”

Figen Yüksekdağ was arrested at her home in Ankara late last night and brought before a court in Diyarbakır. In her statement of defense before the prosecutor, Figen said, “I refuse to be a bit player in this juridical theater started on the orders of Erdoğan, with his checkered political past. I demand nothing and expect nothing from you. Only the people who elected me can interrogate me about my political activities.”

Figen described the moment of her arrest in her defense: “Around 1:00 a.m., I was at my residence in Ankara when police came to my door. They announced that they had a warrant. I said that I would wait for my lawyers. I did not open the door. But the police did not wait. They broke down my door and arrested me. This situation cannot be reconciled with any legal principle. I am still a parliamentary representative and the general co-chair of the third largest party in the general assembly. I do not think that these operations are being conducted in accordance with the law. I think that the ruling political powers forced these operations and arrests to occur so as to use the law as an instrument of their own gain. I also do not think that these procedures will advance in a wholesome manner within the framework of legal principles.”

Figen then read her party’s common defense statement.

“We are the elected representatives of the people. We do not represent ourselves, but the masses of voters who elected us. At this moment I stand before you as a lawmaker, as a member of the Parliament with parliamentary immunity, and as a representative. It is not possible for me to allow this identity I represent and the will of my people to be disrespected. I am entirely unafraid of being accountable in the presence of a just, impartial court of law. And there is nothing I need to be accountable for. As the dignity of the law is trampled underfoot in our country, I will never accept being the subject of this kind of political trial. I have no compunction or disrespect regarding you personally. However, I refuse to be a bit player in this juridical theater started on the orders of Erdoğan, with his checkered political past. I will not answer any question that you ask; I have no belief that any trial you will conduct will be just. Even the fact of my being brought here is illegal. Politicians in the political arena address politicians, not members of the judiciary. In this sense, you, as members of the judiciary who must be true to universal and democratic principles of law and to the international agreements that Turkey has signed and that bear the force of constitutional law, should also reject being part of political games and machinations.

“We will continue with our political struggle in a decisive fashion, until such time as a majoritarian democratic regime has been built and peace and tranquility brought to our country. Against social polarization and division, we will continue to defend and protect equal shared life; against violence, democratic political struggle; against single-sidedness, pluralism; against fascism, democracy; against sectarian and racist policies, freedom of belief and freedom of conscience; against discrimination and hate speech, equality. We will continue to defend and protect all the rights that the Kurdish people have as a people; Alevi society’s demand for equal citizenship; the freedom of belief of religious minorities; women’s equal participation in societal, social, political, and economic life; the protection of the environment and ecology against capitalist destruction; and the defense of the rights of labor and workers against capital’s avarice for profit. Whether we are in Parliament or in prison, you will not be able to stop us from defending these thoughts and struggling on their behalf.

“We have no doubt that we will be rid of the fascist order being forced on our country and our people under the guise of the ‘presidency.’ Sooner or later, the struggle for democracy will be victorious. This antiquated regime embodied in the person of Erdoğan will change. I demand nothing and expect nothing from you. Only the people who elected me can interrogate me about my political activities.”