Selahattin Demirtas has spent a decade in prison in Turkey. Arrested at his home in Diyarbakir on November 4, 2016, the Kurdish politician was taken away by police in front of his wife, Basak, and their two daughters. He was later sentenced to 10 years in prison for “terrorist propaganda,” according to the report. From detention, he told Le Monde that he remains optimistic about the future.
A lawyer by training, Demirtas was elected to parliament and served as co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which later became the DEM Party. The report describes it as the third-largest force in Turkey’s parliament and identifies Demirtas as a charismatic figure in the Kurdish movement.
Demirtas emerged as a significant political challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. During the 2014 presidential campaign, he directly told Erdogan on live television, “We will not make you president!” The phrase spread widely, and Demirtas helped expand the Kurdish party’s appeal beyond its traditional electoral base.
Sources: Le Monde International.