Do?an Erba? is a Kurdish lawyer and politician who has been targeted for his work with the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and other pro-Kurdish parties that have since been shut down. The case against Erba?, currently a member of the HDP Caucus, continues at the appeals court, but he was arrested on Tuesday to serve the non-finalised sentence.
Prominent Kurdish lawyer Do?an Erba? was arrested on Tuesday and sent to a prison in Turkish capital Ankara over a 12 year sentence that was issued in December.
Erba? was subjected to degrading treatment during the arrest. In a video leaked to the press, reportedly by the police themselves, Erba? is seen with his hands cuffed behind his back and his head pushed down by officers, reminiscent of the mistreatment of Kurdish politicians in the 2009 mass arrests.
“Conditions for reverse handcuffing in the law were not met,” fellow lawyer Bi?ar Abdi Al?nak said in a tweet. “Beyond physical and mental torture, this practice aims to humiliate and intimidate the Kurdish people.”
Turkish law allows reverse handcuffing only in extreme situations.
The case Erba? was convicted in had started in 2016, after a peace process between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) failed, and the veteran rights defender spent nearly two years behind bars awaiting trial.
Erba? faced terrorism charges over PKK membership and propaganda. Evidence of Erba?’s criminal activity in the indictment was a list of his speeches as the Istanbul provincial co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), the second largest opposition party in Turkey that is currently facing a threat of closure over terrorism charges itself.
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