The first hearing of the case took place in Ankara. Kaya stood trial along with Serpil Kemalbay, Pero Dundar, Fatma Kurtalan, and Garo Paylan, who are also former HDP lawmakers.
In October 2014, the city of Kobane in Rojava was under attack by the Islamic State (ISIS). The HDP, now rebranded as Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), called for street protests to ask the Turkish government to open a corridor allowing military aid from the Kurdistan Region to reach the Kurdish city. Turkish security forces heavily cracked down on the protests. The violence resulted in the killing of at least 50 people and the injury of hundreds of others.
“Former HDP Member of Parliament, our comrade Huda Kaya, was released from the Second Kobanî Conspiracy Trial, whose first hearing was held today. Welcome back among us. Our struggle will continue until all our imprisoned comrades are free,” the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, the HDP’s successor, announced on X.
Kaya was detained in November at Istanbul Airport while trying to travel abroad.
Pro-Kurdish outlet Mezopotamya Agency (MA) reported that during the trial the prosecutor asked for the continuation of Kaya’s detention, however, the court ordered her release on the condition of signing in once a month and a ban on leaving the country.
According to MA, the Turkish prosecutor demanded a total of 28 aggravated life sentences and 19,680 years of imprisonment for the politicians.
Tuesday's hearing was the second case against pro-Kurdish politicians and lawmakers for their alleged involvement in the Kobane case.
Last month, a Turkish court concluded a 10-year-old case against dozens of Kurdish politicians for their alleged involvement in the deadly protests in 2014, including Selahattin Demirtas, former co-chair of the HDP, who has been in prison since 2016. Demirtas was handed 42 years in prison.
The May rulings by the Ankara court came less than two months after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost at the local polls. He has blamed the DEM Party for his party’s failure in metropolises like Istanbul, claiming that the pro-Kurdish party supported the opposition candidate, Ekrem Imamoglu. DEM Party fielded its own candidate in the city and later denied supporting Imamoglu.
Days later, Erdogan endorsed the ruling stating that the decision “renewed faith in the manifestation of justice."
