MARDİN - Sevil Rojbin Çetin, a member of the Democratic Local Administrations Board of Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) who was physically tortured with police dogs have been arrested.

In her defense speech Çetin said, "I had no idea about this investigation opened against me in Mardin. No one has come to my place of residence. I have been a political activist of HDP for years. I have worked on women's rights. I was elected as the mayor of Edremit Municipality of Van on April 1 2014 and I have worked as a mayor for two years. I was also elected for the local administration board. I have visited Mardin many times to exchange ideas. All my visits in Mardin have been legal, open and public. I am an official member of a legal institution. I reject all the testimonies of the witnesses regarding me as they are all slanders. I reject all the crimes I have been charged with. All my political activities have been legal and public."

With Çetin completing her defense, the court has ruled in favor of the prosecutor’s demand that the Kurdish woman activist to be arrested.

POLICE DID NOT ALLOW THE PRESS STATEMENT

After Çetin's arrest, HDP members wanted to make a statement in front of the courthouse. The police did not allow the explanation.

REACTION FROM HDP

On their official Twitter account HDP shared a message regarding the arrest of Çetin: "The arrest of Rojbin Çetin, who has been detained by torture and kept under custody for 11 days, is unlawful. Torture is a crime against humanity; this torture cannot be justified by an arrest warrant. Torturers will give an account of this decision before the law."