Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Co-chair Pervin Buldan said that the imprisonment of Fadıl Şenyaşar, who survived a shooting that killed his father and two brothers in 2018, was unlawful and unconscionable.
Buldan spoke to reporters during a visit to mother and son Emine and Ferit Şenyaşar on Sunday, ahead of the 400th day of their vigil outside the Şanlıurfa (Rîha) court building.
“End this injustice at once. This mother knows that those she lost are not coming back, but all must heed her call for justice as she waits here to be reunited with her imprisoned son,” Buldan said, before an HDP delegation broke their Ramadan fast together with the Şenyaşar family.
Buldan had made two previous attempts to meet with the protesting mother and son, but these had failed as the pair had been detained by police ahead of the co-chair’s scheduled visits.
“These two detentions were unlawful, as were all the others,” Ferit Şenyaşar told reporters. “My mother was called in to make a statement again today, for the 15th time, with respect to an alleged insult. They have done all they can to get us away from here, but they have failed. We will resist until justice is served.”
The Şenyaşars have been demanding the release of Fadıl Şenyaşar, who was arrested after he recovered from the shooting that took place during the re-election campaign of Halil İbrahim Yıldız, MP with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), in 2018.
Adil and Celal Şenyaşar were wounded in a shooting following an argument with Yıldız’s bodyguards when the AKP MP visited their family shop in June 2018, ahead of Turkey’s general elections, in which the AKP lost its majority in parliament for the first time.
Hacı Esvet Şenyaşar was killed when he visited his sons in the hospital, when relatives and bodyguards of Yıldız carried out a second attack in the intensive care unit. His other son Fadıl survived both attacks, but was arrested over the death of Yıldız’s brother during the original incident after he was released from hospital.
Mother Emine Şenyaşar started her current sit-in protest in March 2021 to demand the release of her son Fadıl, who has been held in solitary confinement since his arrest. The family held another sit-in in December 2020 with the same demand, but ended their demonstration after a meeting with the prosecutor in the case.
During the Muslim holy month, the family has been holding iftar meals in which they break their Ramadan fast in a communal meal together with people who visit them at the vigil.
Monday saw a delegation of the left-wing Labour and Democracy Platform visit what the family is calling its Justice Meals.
“We broke our fast together with the Şenyaşar family, who have been waiting for justice for 400 days,” platform spokesperson and chairman of the Eğitim-Sen teachers’ union Mahmut Binici told reporters during their visit.
“These cries for justice will be answered if there is but a sliver of justice and democracy in this country. No tyranny lasts forever,” Binici said
