CHP MP Ağbaba: Demirtaş said 'If I die, those who got me in jail are to blame'

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Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Vice Chair Veli Ağbaba said Selahattin Demirtaş, the former co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), had told him during their meeting that if he were to die, “the ones who put him in jail” would be to blame.

Ağbaba's comments came after he, along with two other CHP deputies, on Dec. 3 visited Demirtaş in prison in the western province of Edirne to check on the former HDP co-chair's health situation. Demirtaş hit the headlines on Dec. 2 after his lawyers informed the public that the former HDP co-chair had lost consciousness due to chest tightness and inability to breathe on Nov. 26.

Following their meeting with Demirtaş, the CHP delegation wanted to issue a press statement, but they were allowed to do so only about four kilometers away from the prison.

Ağbaba, speaking on behalf of the CHP delegation, said that they had seen Demirtaş in a good state of health and in a good mood. Demirtaş told the delegation that he was not experiencing a problem with the jail management and the delay in his transfer to a hospital was attributable to the Justice Ministry.

'Negligence on the part of Justice Ministry'

“When a couple of days passed by [since Demirtaş's fainting in jail on Nov. 26], the issue was made known to the public through his lawyer. He [Demirtaş] thinks that there is a negligence on the part of the Justice Ministry. He has been experiencing this problem since the last 20 years. Until now, he went through this problem 20 times at most, but this number increased in the last three years [since being jailed]. His said that his health problems were the problems of prisoner patients and if he were to die, the ones who put him in jail were to blame,” Ağbaba said.

The CHP deputy said that the issue of prisoner patients in Turkey is one of the most important issues of the country. “In jails, patients are having problems in terms of being transferred [to a hospital]. They cannot utilize their health rights. If the law applies the same to everyone, there will not be any problem. If the 10^th article of the Constitution is executed, there will be any problem,” Ağbaba said. The 10^th article of the Turkish Constitution says, “Everyone is equal before the law without distinction as to language, race, color, sex, political opinion, philosophical belief, religion and sect or any such grounds.”

Ağbaba also urged the release of everyone who have been jailed “with political considerations involved.” “We want an end to this judicial system...As the [CHP] party, we want you to know that we will be monitoring the problems of everyone in jail.”

Ağbaba said that Demirtaş's illness is quite serious, but Demirtaş himself does not want to be considered eligible for release based on this illness. “Demirtaş says, 'Even if I die, I do not want to be released because of this reason,'” Ağbaba said, referring to the fact there are thousands of sick patients in Turkish jails who are denied release.

Demirtaş has a 'serious health problem'

“He [Demirtaş] will get examined again in the upcoming days. There is no yet a diagnosis about his illness. He used to overcome [the chest tightness and inability to breathe] with breathing exercises, but for the first time, he has fainted. This is a new situation for him. He fainted for the first time and since he hit his head, he does not remember [what happened before]. He has a serious health problem. Precautions need to be taken.”

CHP chair: Demirtaş is serving time for saying 'We will not let you become the president'

CHP chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu also touched upon Demirtaş's health situation, wishing him a speedy recovery. “He [Demirtaş] is jailed since he said that 'We will not let you become the president,” Kılıçdaroğlu said, referring to Demirtaş's vow in 2015 (when he was the HDP co-chair) that the HDP would not support President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's plans to shift the country to an executive presidential system.

“The law is the same for all of us. I have to object to the injustice done to the parties that are my competitors on behalf of democracy. Demirtaş is acquitted in a case but then an arrest warrant is again issued on another case, and then you will say 'The judiciary system is independent.' Tell it to the hand!” Kılıçdaroğlu said, while addressing his party deputies during a parliamentary group meeting on Dec. 3.

Demirtaş experienced difficulty in breathing at least 20 times in jail: HDP delegation

A delegation also from the HDP visited Demirtaş in prison on Dec. 3. HDP deputy Mithat Sancar, who is also the deputy speaker of Turkish parliament, held a press meeting on behalf of the delegation, saying that the party will ask the Justice Ministry for a permission to allow Demirtaş to go through more detailed medical tests.

Demirtaş told the HDP delegation that he had experienced chest tightness and difficulty in breathing at least 20 times since being jailed on Nov. 4, 2016, Sancar said.

“For the illness to be diagnosed, the tests need to be completed, and the last stage of this is an  endoscopy procedure,” Sancar said, adding that such a procedure was not conducted during Demirtaş's visit to the Trakya University Medical School Hospital on Dec. 2. “Doctors have indicated that this [endoscopy] needs to be undertaken as soon as possible. And now a new permission for transfer to the hospital needs to be issued; from here, we convey this to the Justice Ministry, in front of the press. We will express this when we see them [Justice Ministry officials] during our contacts,” Sancar said.

Sancar also said that the HDP was notified of Demirtaş' situation on Dec. 2, like the rest of the public, when Aygül Demirtaş, Demirtaş’s sister and one of his lawyers, announced it on social media.

“The first notification was made by Aygül Demirtaş on Twitter. We learned about all this on Monday, i.e. yesterday. When we asked him why he had consulted such a means, he answered as follows: First, he said that he did not want to be discussed through his health problems in the public. Also, he said that he is not the only prisoner going through health problems, that health issue is a very serious issue in jails and therefore he did not find it ethical to put himself forward. Apart from this, he [initially] believed that it was possible to carry out this process more silently and more normally, but after seeing that such a process was not possible due to the impediments of the [Justice] Ministry, he found it right to report his situation,” Sancar said.

Aygül Demirtaş announced on Dec. 2 that Demirtaş had lost his consciousness on Nov. 26 and they had applied to the authorities to let him to be taken to a hospital, but still he was not allowed. Just hours after Aygül Demirtaş's complain on social media about the delay, Edirne’s Chief Prosecutor’s Office announced that Demirtaş was to be dispatched to a hospital.

“Demirtaş said that when he looks back on [the events], he has realized that it was not right to wait so long [until Dec. 2]. He said, 'I should have in fact notified you, the party, the public on the second day [after falling ill], when the transfer [to the hospital] did not happen,” Sancar said.

Meanwhile, HDP co-chair Pervin Buldan touched upon Demirtaş's health situation during a parliamentary group meeting on Dec. 3, saying that the current government is responsible from “every negativity that Demirtaş and all of our friends will go through, including their states of health.”

“Demirtaş, Figen Yüksekdağ, who are kept in jail since three years in an unlawful way, and all of our arrested deputies, co-mayors and also prisoner patients should be immediately released, and this unlawfulness, this hostage politics should be immediately ended,” she said.