Hüda Kaya, the former Istanbul MP for the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), has been caught in a “political trap” orchestrated by the Turkish judiciary, she said after she was detained at Istanbul airport on 1 November and subsequently sent to prison.
In an interview with the Mezopotamya Agency (MA), Kaya explained that she had previously left and re-entered the country after her parliamentary term ended, stressing that she could have fled earlier if she had any intention of escaping. Despite her presence in Istanbul and her willingness to cooperate, the Ankara Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor issued a “fugitive” warrant against her on 27 September, to which Kaya responded with disbelief: “I am in Istanbul, I am in my official residence, I am at home, my phones are switched on and the Public Prosecutor issues a fugitive warrant against me”.
Expressing her frustration, Kaya said that she and her lawyer had repeatedly contacted the prosecutor’s office to make a statement, but were met with weeks of evasiveness.
“Every time we called or asked, we were told ‘we will get back to you’,” she said. Kaya pointed out the absurdity of her situation, as she was summoned to testify by different prosecutors in different cases, including the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office just last week. She asked: “What kind of fugitive is this?”
Kaya called on all opposition groups to react and expose this arbitrary behaviour of the Turkish judiciary.
The former MP made it clear that she plans to appeal the arrest and expressed her determination to file criminal charges against those responsible for immediately handing over security camera footage to agencies close to the Turkish government after the arrest warrant was issued. She also intends to hold the prosecutor responsible for issuing a fugitive warrant despite her willingness to testify, all while avoiding contact for several weeks.
Her lawyer, Zilan Leventoğlu, who visited Kaya in prison, noted her client’s resilience in the face of unfavourable conditions. Leventoğlu revealed that the police had been informed in advance of Kaya’s imminent arrest and that the security camera footage of her being handcuffed was leaked to some media networks, leading to headlines such as ‘Hüda Kaya caught on the run’. Leventoğlu described these reports as unfair and unlawful defamation.
Leventoğlu said that Kaya was deliberately detained at the exact time of her departure in order to make it look as if she was on the run, and declared: “This is a politically motivated decision”.
The lawyer also raised concerns about the impartiality of the Turkish judiciary, revealing that the Ankara 4th Peace Criminal Court, which issued the warrant, did not question Kaya about the case.
