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The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has pronounced its judgement on former Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş, who has been arrested for over four years.
Reiterating the previous judgement handed down by the ECtHR, the Grand Chamber has concluded that Demirtaş was arrested for political reasons.
With the judgement pronounced today, the Grand Chamber has ruled that Demirtaş shall be released from prison.
Speaking to bianet about the Grand Chamber's judgement, lawyer Ramazan Demir has said, "Demirtaş must be released immediately according to this judgement; Turkey has no justification left to fall back on."
On the grounds that the arrest of Demirtaş was for political reasons, the Grand Chamber has concluded that the Article 18 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was violated and ruled that all necessary measures shall be taken to end his imprisonment immediately.
Turkey has also been convicted of violating the following rights and freedoms: Freedom of expression (Article 10); the right to liberty and security (Articles 5/1 and 5/3); the lawfulness of detention and trial within reasonable time (Article 5/4) and right to elect and to be elected (Article 3/1).
What does it mean to violate Article 18?
In its judgement dated November 20, 2018, the ECtHR ruled that Demirtaş should be released, convicting Turkey for the first time as per the Article 18 of the ECHR. Speaking to bianet after this ruling, Selahattin Demirtaş's attorneys Benan Molu and Ramazan Demir explained what it meant to be convicted of violating the Article 18 of the Convention.
In its judgement, the ECtHR emphasized that the pre-trial detention of Selahattin Demirtaş "pursued the predominant ulterior purpose of stifling pluralism and limiting the freedom of political debate" and ruled for a violation of the Article no. 18 with the following words:
"Having regard to the foregoing, and in particular the fact that the national authorities have repeatedly ordered the applicant's continued detention on insufficient grounds consisting simply of a formulaic enumeration of the grounds for detention provided for by law, the Court finds that it has been established beyond reasonable doubt that the extensions of the applicant's detention, especially during two crucial campaigns, namely the referendum and the presidential election, pursued the predominant ulterior purpose of stifling pluralism and limiting freedom of political debate, which is at the very core of the concept of a democratic society."
Attorneys Molu and Demir also emphasized, "The court has ruled that there has been a violation of Article 18 of the Convention in conjunction with Article 5/3." Accordingly, the ECtHR stated in its judgement:
"Court considers that the respondent State must ensure that the applicant's pre-trial detention, ordered in the criminal proceedings forming the subject of the present case, is ended at the earliest possible date, unless new grounds and evidence justifying his continued detention are put forward."
Trial of Selahattin DemirtaşSelahattin Demirtaş was detained on November 4, 2016. He was arrested and sent to Silivri Prison in İstanbul on the same day. He is still behind bars in Silivri. All his investigations, except for one, have been combined in a single file. The lawsuit filed at the Ankara 19th Heavy Penal Court has still not been concluded. As his request for release as part of this suit was rejected, his attorneys appealed to the Constitutional Court. In their application to the Constitutional Court on May 29, 2018, the attorneys requested that his application be reviewed with priority. However, the Court has not yet responded to the application. On June 26, 2018, his case was taken to the ECtHR. Shortly after this appeal to the ECtHR, the court announced its judgment in his second case. Tried in the case together with former HDP MP Sırrı Süreyya Önder, Selahattin Demirtaş has been sentenced to 4 years, 8 months in prison on the charge of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" by the İstanbul 26th Heavy Penal Court. One month later, on October 25, 2018, his verdict of conviction reached the 2nd Penal Chamber of İstanbul Regional Court of Justice, the court of appeal. On November 17, 2018, the ECtHR announced that it would announce its judgment as to his application on November 20. The court of appeal swiftly reviewed the verdict of conviction of Demirtaş and started discussing it on November 19. On November 20, 2018, the ECtHR concluded that Demirtaş was "arrested with political motivations" and ruled for his release. The Ankara 19th Heavy Penal Court rejected his request for release on November 30, 2018, indicating that "his arrest was a moderate measure". On December 4, 2018, the 2nd Penal Chamber of İstanbul Regional Court of Justice upheld his verdict of conviction. With this verdict, Demirtaş became an arrested convict. The attorneys of Demirtaş appealed again to the ECtHR on February 19, 2019, and requested that the issues not discussed, found inadmissible and not regarded as violation right be reviewed again. The government also appealed against the ECtHR verdict on Demirtaş. In its petition, the government also requested that the ECtHR review its ruling of right violation again. That being the case, the case of Demirtaş has been taken to the ECtHR Grand Chamber, which announced that it would discuss the application on September 18, 2019. In his hearing at the Ankara 19th Heavy Penal Court on September 2, the court board has ruled that Demirtaş shall be released. Demirtaş has not been released. |
(AS/SD)
