Turkey's pro-Kurdish party elected a new co-leader on Saturday to replace Figen Yüksekdağ, who has been in jail on terrorism charges since November and was stripped of her parliamentary status three months ago.
Serpil Kemalbay was elected as joint leader, alongside Selahattin Demirtaş, by delegates who convened for a special congress in the capital Ankara, where there was heavy security.
Turkish authorities stripped Kemalbay's predecessor Figen Yüksekdağ of her parliamentary seat in February in a move related to a 2013 conviction for "terror propaganda", upheld by the top court of appeals in 2016. However, Demirtaş remains a lawmaker for the HDP.
If found guilty, Demirtaş risks up to 142 years in jail while Yüksekdağ faces up to 83 years behind bars for charges including inciting violence.
