Dismissed Diyarbakır Co-Mayor Selçuk Mızraklı’s Request for Release Rejected

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Removed from office by the Ministry of Interior on August 19, 2019 and arrested on October 22, 2019, dismissed Diyarbakır Metropolitan Co-Mayor Selçuk Mızraklı's request for release has been rejected.

Arrested in Kayseri No 2 Type T Closed Prison for 176 days, attorney Muhsin Bilal applied to the Diyarbakır 9th Heavy Penal Court for his release.

In his petition, attorney Bilal has underlined that Mızraklı has a chronic heart disease and requested his release due to coronavirus pandemic.

As reported by Mezopotamya Agency, the Diyarbakır 9th Heavy Penal Court has evaluated the request and, by underlining the existence of a special reason for his arrest as per the criminal sentence given to him, the court has ruled that the judicial control measures cited in the Article 109/3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure cannot ensure a sound judicial process.

Accordingly, indicating that it is not possible to implement judicial control measures, the court has rejected the request for Selçuk Mızraklı's release as health cannot be a justification for release in itself.

Diyarbakır 9th Heavy Penal Court sentenced Mızraklı to 9 years, 4 months, 15 days in prison for "membership of an organization" on March 9, 2020. (EKN/SD)