HDP Deputy Gergerlioğlu assaulted during detention and currently in intensive care

Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, who was controversially stripped of his parliamentary seat and immunity in Turkey after the Supreme Court decided on a sentence of imprisonment for two years and six months, was instructed to surrender within ten days. With the expiry of the ten day period, an arrest warrant was issued for the 56-year-old Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) politician. Gergerlioğlu was at his home in the capital city of Ankara on 2 April when he was subject to detention and reported assault.

His detention was announced by Gergerlioğlu’s son Salih on his social media account: “The same scandal was repeated and they came to arrest my father”. Salih Gergerlioğlu also shared a video showing the moments of his father’s detention.

Sözümüz var, gözü arkada kalmayacak. pic.twitter.com/FXEzZT0Upa

— Salih Gergerlioğlu (@salihro) April 2, 2021

Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu was reportedly assaulted during his detention and then taken to hospital due to chest and heart pains. He received angiography from Ankara City Hospital and is now in an intensive care unit. Gergerlioğlu’s lawyer, Bişar Abdi Alıak, stated that Gergerlioğlu is suffering from high blood pressure. Commenting on the current condition of his client, Aliak stated: “The doctor took him into intensive care to monitor his health condition. He was very nervous about the events he had been through. Now, we have another old and sick prisoner in Turkey’s prisons”.

Alıak shared Gergerlioğlu’s assault report in his Twitter account.

Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu’nun DARP RAPORU. pic.twitter.com/X6CeIxOdun

— Av.Bişar Abdi Alınak (@avBisarAlinak) April 2, 2021

Gergerlioğlu will stay in intensive care for a certain period and then he is scheduled to be transferred to Sincan Prison to serve his sentence. The HDP, in a statement, stated: “Despite all of the applications of our party that have been made to the Ministries of Health and Justice, we cannot obtain any information about the current situation and health of our deputy. The public should be informed immediately about the situation of Gergerlioğlu”.

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