Meral Danış Beştaş (born 5 April 1967) is a Turkish politician from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), who has served as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

since 7 June 2015.

Early life and education

Born in Mardin, Beştaş graduated from Dicle University Faculty of Law in 1990. She was detained on the 16 November 1993, together with her husband, accused of being a courier for the PKK. Between the 15 November 1993 and 21 December 1993, 16 lawyers who defended clients accused of being affiliated with the

PKK The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of sout ...

were detained. Beştaş was released on the 10 December 1993 together with 12 other lawyers. All 16 lawyers alleged that due to their detention their rights were violated, and they filed a complaint at the

European Commission of Human Rights The European Commission of Human Rights was a special body of the Council of Europe. From 1954 to the entry into force of Protocol 11 to the European Convention on Human Rights, individuals did not have direct access to the European Court of Hu ...

. In 2003 she was granted with an indemnification of 14.000 Euros for having been unlawfully detained for 24 days.

Political career

She is currently a co-deputy president of the HDP, and was elected as a HDP Member of Parliament at the June 2015 general election and has been reelected in the November 2015 and the June 2018 general election.

Political views

She is in favor of the abolishment of the law which prohibits to insult the Turkish president and is if the view that politicians in general should be able to be insulted. Beştaş is of the view that the closure case against the HDP is motivated by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) which itself had survived a closure case in 2008.

Political prosecution

She was arrested on 30 January 2017, accused of having taking part in a HDP board meeting during which, the prosecution believes, it was decided by the HDP to call for protests in support of the YPG fighting against the

Islamic State An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

in Kobanî. She was released on 21 April 2017 pending

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal ...

. In 2018 the constitutional court ordered the Turkish treasury to pay Beştaş 20`000 Turkish lira for having been imprisoned unjustly; as, even though Beştaş was a board member, it was not proven she voted in favor of the protests. Turkish prosecutors announced on 13 February 2018 that they were seeking a 25-year prison term for Beştaş. On the 17 March 2021, the State Prosecutor before the

Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...

of Turkey

Bekir Şahin Bekir Şahin (born 1 March 1960, Mecitözü, Turkey) is a jurist, former judge and the current State Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation in Turkey. Education He was educated at the Imam Hatip school and studied law at the Dokuz Eylül Universi ...

filed a lawsuit before the

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...

demanding for her and 686 other HDP politicians a five-year ban to engage in politics. The lawsuit was filed jointly with a request for a closure of the HDP due to the parties alleged organizational links with the PKK.

Personal life

Meral Danış Beştaş is married and has two children.

References

External links

Collection of all relevant news items at Haberler.com

Collection of all relevant news items at Son Dakika
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bestas, Meral Danis Leaders of the Peoples' Democratic Party (Turkey) Deputies of Adana Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey People from Mardin 21st-century Turkish women politicians Members of the 26th Parliament of Turkey Dicle University alumni Living people 1967 births Members of the 27th Parliament of Turkey Kurdish politicians 21st-century Kurdish women politicians Politicians arrested in Turkey Kurdish jurists Turkish women MPs Members of the 28th Parliament of Turkey