‘Human rights’ call to Germany’s new government by Selahattin Demirtaş

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In the fifth year of his imprisonment in Edirne Type F Closed Prison yesterday (November 4), former Co-Chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtaş has answered the questions of Deutsche Presse Agentur (dpa) of Germany via his attorneys.

Addressing the new government to be formed in Germany following the federal elections in late September, Demirtaş has called on them to show more interest in violations of human rights in Turkey.

"I hope that the new German government will pursue a policy holding more onto European values and human rights," he has said.

As reported by DW Türkçe, Demirtaş has also underlined that the new government should not see Turkey as limited to President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Noting that the closure case against the HDP is "part of the operation of intimidation targeting the opposition", Selahattin Demirtaş has argued that President Erdoğan "assigned judges and prosecutors for this case" and "he keeps the judiciary under his control." Demirtaş has said, "Seen in this light, it is impossible to hold a fair trial or give a lawful ruling here."

Speaking about his own trial, Demirtaş has said that Erdoğan "does not hesitate to show him his feelings of hatred and revenge."

'No direct or indirect ties with the PKK'

In response to a question of the dpa, Selahattin Demirtaş has indicated that "neither he nor his party has direct or indirect ties with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)", emphasizing that the HDP is a democratic political party which defends peaceful methods.

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.

The Ankara 19th Heavy Penal Court on September 2 ruled that Demirtaş should be released. His imprisonment continued because of a separate verdict for his arrest.

On December 22, 2020, the ECtHR Grand Chamber ruled for the immediate release of Demirtaş.

On September 17, 2021, The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the ECtHR rulings, stated that Demirtaş should be released and gave time to Turkey until September 30 to announce an action plan about the European court ruling.

(KÖ/SD)