Court Does Not Recognize ECtHR Ruling on Demirtaş: ‘Arrest is Moderate’

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The Ankara 19th Heavy Penal Court has rejected the request for release submitted for Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) former Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş based on the related judgement of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), which ruled on November 20 that "all necessary measures shall be adopted to end his pre-trial detention."

The official Turkish translation of the ruling, which was originally in English and French, was submitted to court yesterday (November 29).

CLICK - Official Translation of ECtHR Ruling on Demirtaş at Court

Justifying its grounds for rejection, the court has stated that "the interrogation regarding the charges pressed against Selahattin Demirtaş has not been completed" and "Demirtaş has not committed that he will abide by the conditions of probation in the event that he is released."

Court could not decide "whether the ruling of the ECtHR is definitive or not"

In its ruling, the Ankara 19th Heavy Penal Court has stated that the judgement on Selahattin Demirtaş was not pronounced by the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR and claimed that "the verdict of release announced for Demirtaş is, therefore, not definitive."

Speaking to bianet about the ruling of the local court, Demirtaş's attorney Ramazan Demir has stated that the verdict of release is definitive and other judgements of the ECtHR are open to the objections of both sides.

In fact, the Ankara 19th Heavy Penal Court ruled that "the Department of Human Rights of the Ministry of Justice shall be consulted as to whether the judgement of the ECtHR is definitve or not."

Attorney Ramazan Demir has also stated that they will object to the rejection of the court and added that they have already submitted an application to the Constitutional Court regarding the issue.

The court board of the Ankara 19th Heavy Penal Court consisted of Presiding Judge Murat İlhan; Members Hasan Gelir, Şaban Oğuz Canbolat; Prosecutor Kamil Garparslan.

What happened?

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) pronounced its judgement on Peoples' Democratic Party's (HDP) imprisoned former Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş on November 20, 2018.

The ECtHR ruled that all necessary measures shall be adopted to put an end to the pre-trial detention of Demirtaş, who has been behind bars in the Edirne Type F Prison since November 4, 2016, and sentenced Turkey to pay 25 thousand Euro in total in pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages.

In its judgement, the ECtHR also stated that the pre-trial detention of Demirtaş "pursued the predominant ulterior purpose of stifling pluralism and limiting the freedom of political debate", emphasizing that "any continuation of the applicant's pre-trial detention" will entail a prolongation of the stated violations and "a breach of the obligations on Turkey to abide by the Court's judgment in accordance with Article 46 § 1 of the Convention."

Upon the announcement of the ECtHR ruling, the attorneys of Selahattin Demirtaş submitted an application to the Ankara 19th Heavy Penal Court on the day when the ruling of the ECtHR was pronounced and requested that Demirtaş be immediately released.

On November 29, the official Turkish translation of the judgement, which was originally in English and French, was submitted to the Ankara 19th Heavy Penal Court. The court had previously announced that "it would give its ruling on Selahattin Demirtaş after receiving the official Turkish translation of the ECtHR ruling from the Ministry of Justice." (AS/SD)