Former mayor of Şırnak imprisoned

Kurdish politician Serhat Kadırhan has been imprisoned in Amed (tr. Diyarbakır). The former co-mayor of Şırnak is charged with “destroying the unity and integrity of the state.” He is also accused of being a PKK member and spreading terror propaganda.

Kadırhan, who is a lawyer by profession, was elected co-mayor of Şırnak in the March 2014 local election as a candidate of the “Peace and Democracy Party” (BDP for short). The HDP’s sister party changed its name to DBP (Democratic Regions Party) later that year. In 2016, Kadırhan was deposed in the wake of the Turkish government’s first coup against Kurdish local politics and replaced by a trustee. Shortly thereafter, a large wave of arrests began, with politicians such as former HDP co-chairs Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahattin Demirtaş being arrested. Two years ago, Ankara’s second blow against Kurdish town halls followed with the reintroduction of a trustee regime.

Serhat Kadırhan was detained last Friday during an operation by counterterrorism units of the Turkish police. The raid on an apartment in Bağlar district was carried out on the basis of a wanted notice issued by the Şırnak Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. In the investigation against Kadırhan, the prosecution is using as evidence that the politician allegedly took part in rallies during the curfews between 2014 and 2016.

For his interrogation, Kadırhan was connected to the Palace of Justice in Şırnak via the SEGBIS video conferencing system while still in police custody on Monday. The judge in charge ordered pre-trial detention, citing the “incentive to flee due to the high expectation of punishment.” Kadırhan has since been transferred to a maximum security prison in Amed. It is unclear when the trial against him will open. If convicted, the politician faces up to 22 years in prison for alleged PKK membership and propaganda alone.