Demirtaş's attorneys apply for his release after ECtHR decision

The European top court has ruled for the immediate release of the politician.

İstanbul

Demirtaş's attorneys apply for his release after ECtHR decision

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Attorneys of Selahattin Demirtaş have applied for his release following a European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decision concluding that his imprisonment was "political."

The former co-chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) is currently pre-trial detention in an investigation into the 2014 Kobanê protests, which claimed more than 50 lives.

Attorney Mahsun Karavan said on Twitter that they requested the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office not to prosecute the investigation and release Demirtaş as the ECtHR decision was "final and binding."

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He wrote, "Demirtaş is arrested because of the October 6-8 [2014] incidents, which allegedly occured after two tweets posted by the HDP Central Executive Committee. The ECtHR has ruled that the tweets were 'a call for peaceful protests'. Demirtaş and arrested HDP members must be released and a decision of non-prosecution must be given."

Demirtaş has been in prison for "terrorism-related" charges since November 2016. The ECtHR also ruled for his release in November 2018 but his imprisonment continued because prosecutors arrested him in the investigation into the Kobanê protests days after the European court ruling.

The ECtHR Grand Chamber concluded yesterday (December 22) that his imprisonment was politically motivated, which caused the violation of Article 18 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)

Turkey also violated 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), according to the judgment.

Trial of Selahattin Demirtaş

Selahattin 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.

The Kobani protests

Before the protests held to support Kobani in northern Syria in 2014, those who were waiting in the district of Suruç, Urfa in southeastern Turkey and wanted to cross the border were intervened with pepper gas and rubber bullets. In the meantime, some pictures allegedly showing ISIS militia crossing the border of Turkey were published.

President and ruling AKP Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made statements indicating that they equated PKK with ISIS. While the wounded coming from Kobani were kept waiting on the border, the wounded from ISIS were treated at hospitals. Several news reports were reported in the press, saying "Kobani fell." These news reports were denied every time.
After the HDP made a call to take to the streets against a possible massacre in Kobani, thousands of people protested in Kurdish-majority provinces as well as Ankara and İstanbul. While left parties also supported these protests, deaths also occurred with the onset of police violence. Street conflicts ensued. 42 people lost their lives from October 6 to 12, 2014.

According to a report by the Human Rights Association (İHD), 46 people died, 682 people were wounded and 323 people were arrested in the protests held between October 6 and 8, 2014. As reported by the AA, 31 people lost their lives, 221 citizens and 139 police officers were wounded.

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office began investigating the incidents a year ago. First, the depositions of former jailed HDP Co-Chairs Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahattin Demirtaş were interrogated as part of this investigation. Released in the trial where he had been arrested pending trial, Demirtaş faced another ruling of arrest as part of this "Kobani investigation" on the same day.

(EKN/VK)