A court has sentenced former Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş to 1 year, 5 months, and 15 days in prison for "insulting the president" in speeches made in Mersin and Diyarbakır before his 2016 arrest.
Demirtaş, who has been behind bars for nearly 10 years, did not attend the hearing. He was represented by his lawyer.
His attorneys requested additional time to respond to the prosecutor’s final opinion, citing earlier motions they had submitted. The presiding judge denied the request, stating that time had already been granted for this purpose. The defense then requested recusal, claiming their right to a fair defense was violated. That motion was also rejected.
The court also refused Demirtaş’s request to attend the hearing in person, citing security concerns.
After reviewing the defense, the panel of judges concluded that Demirtaş had insulted the president in a "continuous manner" during two separate speeches and issued the sentence accordingly.
DEM co-leader condemns ruling
Following the verdict, Tuncer Bakırhan, co-chair of the Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, successor of the HDP, made a statement on social media condemning the ruling. “We reject the prison sentence handed down to our valued comrade Selahattin Demirtaş on the pretext of insulting the president. We do not recognize this decision.
“Such court rulings create serious obstacles to building peace. They deepen injustice and strike a blow to the hope for peace. This coup-mentality must be stopped immediately. Our beloved Demirtaş and all political prisoners must be released without delay. The path to peace is built not with coup-style judicial rulings but through freedom and justice.”
Demirtaş has been imprisoned since 2016 on a range of charges and has received multiple sentences. Despite multiple rulings by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) calling for his release, Turkish courts have not complied. Most recently, the European court ruled in July that his continued detention following a 2019 arrest was arbitrary and politically motivated.
European court finds 2019 ruling for Demirtaş’s 2019 detention arbitrary
(EMK/VK)
