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Jailed politician Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu was released from the Sincan Prison in the capital city of Ankara yesterday evening (July 6).
Five days before his release, the Constitutional Court concluded that the "right to be elected and to engage in political activities" and "the right to personal liberty and security" of the dismissed Kocaeli MP of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) were violated. This ruling was sent to the Kocaeli 2nd Heavy Penal Court yesterday and it gave a ruling of release afterwards.
Following this ruling of release, Gergerlioğlu was released from the Sincan Prison in the evening hours. Salih Gergerlioğlu, the son of the politician, has shared a picture with his father, tweeting, "He is free now."
Gergerlioğlu has also posted a brief message on his Twitter account and asked, "Where did we leave off?"
Stripped of his MP status and sent to prison afterwards, Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu made an individual application to the Constitutional Court. The top court gave a ruling of rights violation on July 1. The delay in releasing him in line with this ruling was protested by his family and lawyers.
Press statement at the HDP office
After he was released yesterday evening, Gergerlioğlu went to the HDP Central Office and held a press statement. He was welcomed by the HDP executives and the MPs in front of the HDP Central Office.
In his press statement, Gergerlioğlu said, "I say, 'Where did we leave off?' Our life is a resistance and resisting means living. We said this till the end. We said, 'Long live the fraternity of the peoples.' That was how I left the Parliament and that is also how I will go back there."
'Court gave a swift and clear ruling'
Gergerlioğlu thanked the Constitutional Court for carrying out the appeal proceedings in a swift manner and gave a very clear ruling:
"Unlawfulness is extreme. I was aggrieved at the local court, the court of appeals and the Court of Cassation; then, this ruling was quickly read out at the Parliament. Then, the last place that we would turn to was the Constitutional Court and it gave such a clear and definite ruling.
"I would like to thank the Constitutional Court very much. It carried out the proceedings really fast. The ruling was handed down in a unanimous vote. Those judicial processes must be ashamed of this.
"And there are hundreds of thousands of people like us. I was discharged because I wanted peace. It was apparently not enough; after I came here as the deputy of the people, these games of the judiciary continued. They stripped me of my MP status and I was put in a dungeon.
"But we do not kneel down, we do not bow down."
'I was kept in prison for 6 more days for no reason'
Referring to the delay in releasing him following the Constitutional Court ruling, HDP's Gergerlioğlu said: "They made me serve 6 more days behind bars for no reason. Even though the Constitutional Court gave a clear ruling, I was kept in prison for 6 more days. But they should know that my release is a harbinger of the freedom of our other friends.
"It is a harbinger of an end to the attacks targeting our party. May the people smile, I smile deep inside, my heart smiles."
'They have failed to pin me down'
Further in his statement, Gergerlioğlu said:
I was in extremely high spirits during my 3 months behind bars. I was extremely fine, I protected myself physically, I got thinner and younger in a sense. I grew a beard. It is almost like a new Ömer now. I have been spiritually refreshed, it is good for me. They wanted to pin me down, but they have failed to do so. We were right, we never stepped back, we were always in good spirits, we were really motivated. We constantly exchanged letters with friends. We met the friends behind bars as part of Kobanî trial. We were really in good spirits. We followed the Parliament inside. I thought that my status as an MP was not over. I produced, I did everything I could, I wrote articles and poems, I worked on books.
What happened?
Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Kocaeli MP Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu was sentenced to 2 years, 6 months in prison on the charge of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" on February 21, 2018, because of a social media post from the year 2016. The conviction was upheld by the 16th Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation on February 19, 2021.
Speaking shortly after this ruling was handed down, Gergerlioğlu said that the verdict was "political", adding, "Strip searches, abductions, tortures... Some people got disturbed by us talking about all these."
He also made an application to the Constitutional Court. However, the final ruling of the court was read out at the Plenary Session of the Parliament on March 17, 2021, and he was stripped of his MP duty. He refused to leave the parliament in protest of the decision, starting a "justice watch."
During his protest, he was detained at the parliament as part of a new investigation on March 21 and released on the same day.
Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu was detained from his house on April 2, 2021; he was arrested and sent to prison shortly afterwards.
The Constitutional Court rejected an application against the revocation of his parliamentary mandate on March 31.
The Constitutional Court examined the individual application of Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) dismissed Kocaeli MP Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, who was stripped of his MP status and arrested afterwards.
Giving its ruling, the Constitutional Court has concluded that Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu's "right to be elected and to engage in political activities" and "the right to personal liberty and security" have been violated. (KÖ/SD)
