HDP office assailant rearrested after appeal

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The assailant who attacked the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) office in Istanbul last month was arrested for the second time after his release was appealed against, reported a media outlet on Monday. 

Muhammed Eren Sutcu was rearrested “upon the objection of the prosecutor’s office,” the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya Agency reported. It did not disclose further details on the arrest.

The assailant was detained following the attack on HDP office on December 28, where he reportedly introduced himself as a sympathizer of the party before attacking party members with a knife and gun.  He was later released by the police.

The HDP claimed that his release indicates that assailants are encouraged by the government to commit crimes. 

This was not the first time HDP offices were attacked. The party’s Marmaris office was stormed by gunmen in July. 

The daughter of a HDP member was killed in another attack on the party’s Izmir office in June. 

The HDP has been under pressure for years, accused of being the political wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a charge the party denies. Members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) have called for the party's closure.

Hundreds of its members and supporters are under investigation or in jail, including Selahattin Demirtas, the HDP's former leader, along with his co-chair Figen Yuksekdag.