News Center- The Peoples’ Democratic party was expected to submit its verbal defense to the Turkish Constitutional Court (Turkish: Anayasa Mahkemesi) on April 11, 2023 in the closure case. The HDP Law Commission announced on Thursday that the party has decided not to submit its verbal defense to the Constitutional Court because their request to delay the defense after the presidential and parliamentary elections to be held on 14 May was rejected by the court.

“The rejection of our request is an indication of intervention in the fair election process. Our party will not submit a verbal defense on April 11,” the commission said.

 In June 2021, the Turkish Constitutional Court accepted an indictment filed by a prosecutor seeking the closure of the HDP and the imposition of a political ban on 451 party members as well as a freeze of the party’s bank accounts. The party submitted its written defense to the court in 2022 and it was expected to submit its verbal defense to the court ) on April 11, 2023.