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Selahattin Demirtas, in January 2016, in Brussels. Selahattin Demirtas, a former leader of the People's Democratic Party (HDP), has been detained since November 2016 on charges related to "terrorism". REUTERS / Yves Herman / Photo File

Selahattin Demirtas, the former imprisoned leader of the main pro-Kurdish party in Turkey, was transferred on Monday to a hospital in Edirne province in the west of the country.

With our correspondent in Istanbul , Anne Andlauer

The politician, who spent the last three years behind bars, was unconscious after a bout of discomfort last week in his cell, without the authorities making him hospitalize.

Aygül Demirtas, the sister and lawyer of Selahattin Demirtas, shared the news on Twitter. On November 26 at 5.30 am, in the cell where he has been detained for more than three years, the former co-leader of the pro-Kurdish HDP party lost consciousness. Just before that, he had had chest pains and trouble breathing. His cellmate, Abdullah Zeydan, a former HDP MP, practiced first aid.

1- 26 Kasım Salı günü 05.30 sıkışması ve nefes alamaması nedeniyle bilinci kapanmıştır. Uzun süre bilinci kapalı şekilde hücresindeyken kendisine ilk müdahaleyi, hücre arkadaşı Sn Abdullah Zeydan yapmıştır.

Aygül Demirtaş (@Aygul_Demirtas) December 2, 2019

On site, the medical teams gave him an electrocardiogram, a test that verifies cardiac activity. One test, and nothing more. According to his lawyer, Selahattin Demirtas would have demanded extensive examinations. The prison doctor himself would have requested that he be examined by experts in cardiology, neurology and gastroenterology. None of these requests were accepted and Selahattin Demirtas returned to her cell.

It was necessary for her sister and lawyer to tell the story of this episode on Twitter to allow the Department of Justice to authorize, one week later, his transfer to the hospital to assess his state of health.