A new case has been filed against Selahattin Demirtaş, former Co-Chair of the HDP, by the Batman Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code.
In the indictment citing his speech at the “Peace Against War” rally held in Batman in 2016, it was alleged that Demirtaş “insulted the Turkish nation, state, and institutions.” The prosecution argued that Demirtaş accused the government of “massacre, oppression, and torture” and demanded a prison sentence of from 6 months to 2 years and a political ban.
The seventh hearing of the case, accepted by the Batman 3rd Criminal Court of First Instance, will be held on December 9.
12 cases on the same charge
To date, 12 cases have been filed against Demirtaş on the same charge. In the case where 10 of these were combined, Demirtaş was sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in prison in July 2024. The decision is under appeal. Additionally, two more cases filed in Amed and Batman are ongoing.
Demirtaş has been imprisoned in Edirne Prison since November 2016. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled in two separate decisions in December 2020 and July 2025 that Demirtaş’s imprisonment constituted a violation of his rights.