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Peoples’ Democratic Party's (HDP) detained MP Leyla Zana has been released.
Zana was detained as she came to Turkey’s southeastern Diyarbakır city center from Silvan district due to an investigation carried out by Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Zana has been released on probation by court.
Who is Leyla Zana?
She entered parliament as Social Democratic Populist Party Diyarbakır MP following an election campaign which saw a huge support from the women in the southeastern region in general elections in 1991.
On November 6, 1991, she was protested for ending her oath in Kurdish in the oath-taking ceremony of Grand National Assembly of Turkey’s (TBMM) 19th legislative year.
On March 2, 1994, parliamentary immunities of Zana, Hatip Dicle, Selim Sadak, Orhan Doğan, Hatip Dicle, Ahmet Türk, Sırrı Sakık and Mahmut Alınak were lifted because of a speech Zana delivered in the US. They all were detained in the following day.
She was sent to prison with her group fellows Dicle, Sadak, and Orhan on March 17, 1994. She was sentenced to 15 years in prison on December 8, 1994 on charge of “being a member of an illegal organization”.
She was released from Ankara Central Closed Prison on June 8, 2004.
12 of 59 HDP MPs remain behind bars
HDP Co-Chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, Şırnak MPs Ferhat Encü, Leyla Birlik, Hakkari MPs Selma Irmak, Abdullah Zeydan, Diyarbakır MPs İdris Baluken, Nursel Aydoğan, Ziya Pir, İmam Taşçıer, Ankara MP Sırrı Süreyya Önder and Mardin MP Gülser Yıldırım were taken into custody on November 4. Yüksekdağ, Demirtaş, Baluken, Birlik, Irmak, Aydoğan, Yıldırım, Zeydan and Encü were arrested on the same day.
Pir, Taşçıer and Önder were later released on probation.
HDP Hakkari MP Akdoğan was arrested on November 7.
HDP Group Deputy Chair Çağlar Demirel and HDP Siirt MP Besime Konca were arrested on December 13, which increased the number of arrested HDP MPs to 12.
HDP İstanbul MP Filiz Kerestecioğlu and HDP Muş MP Ahmet Yıldırım were replaced for the arrested group deputy chairs.
Şırnak MP Leyla Birlik was released on January 4, 2017.
Baluken was discharged on January 30, 2017.
First released on probation after getting arrested, Adana MP Meral Danış Beştaş was taken into custody and arrested again on January 30, 2017 upon opposition by the Prosecutor's office.
With Bilgen's arrest on January 31, 12 HDP MPs remain behind bars. (NV/TK)