HDP's Gergerlioğlu returns to parliament after top court ruling
Gergerlioğlu protesting against being stripped of MP status. (Photo: HDP/File)
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Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) has been reinstated as an MP following the Constitutional Court ruling that his rights were violated when he was convicted of "terrorist propaganda" because of a Twitter post from 2016.
Gergerlioğlu was stripped of his MP status and sent to prison in March.
The Constitutional Court ruled on July 1 that his right to be elected and to engage in political activities was violated. The politician was released from prison five days after the judgment.
With the top court ruling read out at the parliament today (July 16), Gergerlioğlu officially regained his legislative power.
Speaking at the General Assembly after being reinstated, Gergerlioğlu said, "My party and the people resisted and at the end, I have come here for the second time with the power of the people and democracy. Thank you to my people."
"I didn't keep the justice watch for nothing. I fully believed I was right and on the people's side," he remarked. "We have seen that the people won, democracy won and the Constitution won. I hope similar incidents won't happen again."
Our MP Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu has regained his parliamentary status after the court decision regarding his case was read out in parliament. Welcome back, dear Gergerlioğlu! Together we will continue our decisive struggle against the AKP-MHP alliance that ignores people's will.pic.twitter.com/CykH9bYgEt
— HDP English (@HDPenglish) July 16, 2021
What happened?In February 2018, Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Kocaeli MP Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison for "terrorist propaganda" for retweeting a post by a news portal about a statement by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in 2016. The conviction was upheld by the 16th Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation on February 19. Speaking after this ruling was handed down, Gergerlioğlu said that the verdict was politically motivated and the real reason behind it was that "some people were disturbed by me talking about strip searches, abductions and torture." 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. Gergerlioğlu was detained at his home on April 2. 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. After examining Gergerlioğlu's individual application against his prison sentence, the Constitutional Court ruled on July 1 that his "right to be elected and to engage in political activities" and "the right to personal liberty and security" were violated. In its detailed ruling, the court noted that the PKK's statement had already been made public and no legal action had been taken about it. Gergerlioğlu was released from prison on July 6 and reinstated as an MP on July 16. |
(RT/VK)