Arrest warrant issued for HDP Amed MP Semra Güzel after her parliamentary immunity was lifted

After Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Amed MP Semra Güzel was stripped of her parliamentary immunity, an arrest warrant was issued. She is charged of “membership of a terrorist organization”.

On 1 March 2022, the parliamentary immunity of Semra Güzel was lifted by a vote taken at the national parliament. The relevant parliamentary joint commission had previously prepared a report on two summaries of proceedings against Ms. Güzel and concluded by a majority of votes that she should be stripped of her immunity.

Semra Güzel, a medical doctor by profession, who was elected to the parliament in June 2018. This is just one more link added to the long chain of attacks on the HDP and parliamentary democracy. Thirteen HDP deputies have already lost their parliamentary seats since 2016, dozens of them were arrested, and eleven deputies are still behind bars, including former co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, despite rulings of the European Court of Human Rights.