Wearing a dark suit, Demirtas appeared for the first time in front of the cameras after nearly 20 months, denouncing what he called the government’s “repressive regime” ahead of the very early presidential election set to be held on June 24, AFP reported.

Demirtas, co-founder and former co-chair of the HDP, appeared on TRT in a pre-recorded speech from prison in the northwestern province of Edirne, after Turkish authorities barred him from going to the broadcaster’s headquarters in the capital Ankara.

“The only reason why I am here is because the AKP is scared of me,” Demirtas said.

In the run up to the election campaign, TRT has been criticized for giving full coverage for Erdogan’s speeches, which tend to happen several times a day, while ignoring other party candidates, in particular Demirtas and IYI (Good) Party leader Meral Aksener.

“What we are passing through is only the trailer of a one-man regime,” Demirtas said.

“The scary part of the movie is yet to start.”

He told the electorate that they would decide with their vote whether or not to be in favor of freedom.

“I have no doubt that you will be on the side of freedom ... We will get hold of our country from the edge of a cliff,” he said.

Demirtas claimed he would be acquitted of all charges as soon as possible, adding that he was not the only victim of “lawlessness.”

“You are victims of this oppression in your daily life,” he said.

If convicted the presidential candidate of the party, which received above 11 percent of nationwide votes in 2015, risks up to 142 years in jail.

The HDP put up a giant screen in the Kurdish majority city of Diyarbakir where hundreds gathered to watch his speech.

Until his jailing, Demirtas was seen as the only politician in Turkey to match the rhetorical skills and charisma comparable to Erdogan.

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