Sincan (Turkey), Dec 7 (AFP) The co-leader of Turkey'spro-Kurdish opposition party went on trial in Ankara today oncharges of links to outlawed Kurdish rebels, after more than ayear behind bars in a case his supporters say is politicallymotivated.
Selahattin Demirtas of the Peoples' Democratic Party(HDP), was first detained in November last year in a crackdownunder the state of emergency that followed the 2016 failedcoup.
Before his arrest Demirtas was considered one ofPresident Recep Tayyip Erdogan's major rivals, a silky oratorwho has succeeded in bringing his party from the fringe intothe political mainstream.
Demirtas, 44, is charged with "managing a terrororganisation", "making propaganda for a terror group" and"inciting criminal acts" among other accusations.
He faces up to 142 years in prison if convicted.
His trial got under way at the Sincan prison complex inAnkara province but Demirtas was not present.
The MP is being held in prison in the northwestern regionof Edirne and the party has previously accused the justiceministry of preventing any court appearances by Demirtas.
The judge said he refused to appear via videolink.
Defence lawyers called for Demirtas' acquittal, arguingwhat he was charged with was part of his legal politicalactivity. But the prosecutor urged for his continued detentionduring the packed hearing.
Hundreds of supporters turned up outside the complex,chanting "oppression will not intimidate us" and "SelahattinDemirtas is our honour", an AFP correspondent said.
A diplomatic source said representatives of foreignmissions who wished to attend were not allowed to enter thecourt.
A dozen HDP MPs were detained at the same time asDemirtas, including former co-chair Figen Yuksekdag. She wasstripped of her MP status in February and stepped down in May.
Nine HDP MPs are still in prison, including Demirtas andYuksekdag.
Under Demirtas' leadership, the HDP became the secondbiggest opposition party, winning support from liberal andleft-wing Turks beyond its Kurdish base.
But the government accuses it of being a political frontfor the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a groupblacklisted by Turkey and its Western allies.
Analysts say Demirtas never succeeded in fully distancinghis party from the PKK, though the HDP denies the claims.
It has rubbished Ankara's accusations against its co-leader, saying Demirtas' 501-page indictment was based onpress releases, speeches, panels and similar legal andpolitical activities.
Demirtas is ensnared in nearly 100 legal cases, but thisis the most serious and the one for which he has been held inprison for almost 400 days. (AFP)NSA.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.