MEPs urge Council of Europe to 'use any means at its disposal' to ensure Demirtaş's release
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Leading members of five major political groups in the European Parliament have addressed a letter to the Council of Europe, urging it to ensure that Turkey releases Selahattin Demirtaş, a former co-chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled for the immediate release of Demirtaş in December, stating that Turkey violated ECHR provisions on freedom of expression, reasonable suspicion and the reasonableness of pre-trial detention.
Senior government officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, quickly dismissed the judgment, saying that it was not binding.
"Turkey's clear refusal to implement the ECtHR ruling in Selahattin Demirtaş v. Turkey represents a stark violation of the obligations placed on a Member State of the Council of Europe and threatens to undermine the credibility of the Court," said the MEPs in the letter.
"We urge you to use any means at your disposal to ensure Turkey's full compliance with the Grand Chamber's judgment and secure Mr. Demirtaş' immediate release.
"Not only is his present situation a tragic miscarriage of justice on the part of the Turkish authorities that has come at the expense of Mr. Demirtaş and his family; it has also become symbolic for Turkey's backsliding on human rights, democracy and the rule of law."
CLICK - What will happen if Turkey doesn't release Selahattin Demirtaş?
Demirtaş has been behind bars since November 2016 on "terrorism-related" charges.
Shortly after the ECtHR ruled for his release in November 2018, he was given a prison sentence in another case in what Erdoğan called a "countermove" at the time, hence his imprisonment continued.
After the Grand Chamber decision, a new indictment against him over deadly protests in 2014 was accepted in early January.
With colleagues representing all big parties in @Europarl_EN, calling on EU governments to use all means to ensure Turkey’s compliance w/ ruling #ECtHR to immediately release Selahattin Demirtas. pic.twitter.com/bJBRjaAuWl
— Kati Piri (@KatiPiri) February 1, 2021
Here is the full text of the letter:
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Dear Ambassador, We, leading Members of the main political groups in the European Parliament, call on you to do everything within your power to ensure the swift implementation of the judgment of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the case of Mr. Selahattin Demirtaş v. Turkey (No. 2), including through the discussion of his situation at the upcoming meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and the adoption of a strong declaration on the matter. Mr. Demirtaş, who was a co-chair of the People's Democratic Party (HDP) and a member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly at the time of his arrest, has been in pre-trial detention on unsubstantiated charges in Turkey's high-security Edirne F-Type Prison since 4 November 2016, where he remains in spite of the ECtHR ruling in his favour of 20 November 2018 and the recent affirmative judgment of the Court's Grand Chamber. In its final ruling of 22 December 2020, the Grand Chamber held that Turkey, as the respondent State, is to take all necessary measures to secure Mr Demirtaş immediate release. The Grand Chamber specifically holds Turkey to have violated Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights on freedom of expression, paragraphs 1 and 3 of Article 5 of the Convention on reasonable suspicion and on reasonableness of pre-trial detention, and of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention on the right to free expression of the opinion of the people. In addition, the Grand Chamber holds Turkey, through its continued refusal to release Mr. Demirtaş, to act in pursuit of the ulterior motive of stifling pluralism and limiting the freedom of political debate in violation of Article 18 of the Convention. The highest Turkish authorities, including Turkey's President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Turkey's Minister of the Interior, Mr. Süleyman Soylu, immediately rejected the Grand Chamber ruling. Rather than securing his immediate release, an Ankara court on 7 January 2021 accepted new indictments against Mr. Demirtaş and 107 others. Turkey's clear refusal to implement the ECtHR ruling in Selahattin Demirtaş v. Turkey (No. 2) therefore represents a stark violation of the obligations placed on a Member State of the Council of Europe and threatens to undermine the credibility of the Court. We urge you to use any means at your disposal to ensure Turkey's full compliance with the Grand Chamber's judgment and secure Mr. Demirtaş' immediate release. Not only is his present situation a tragic miscarriage of justice on the part of the Turkish authorities that has come at the expense of Mr. Demirtaş and his family; it has also become symbolic for Turkey's backsliding on human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The people of Turkey deserve to live in freedom. Ms. Kati Piri MEP Mr. Nacho Sanchez Amor MEP Mr. Sergey Lagodinsky MEP Mr. Michael Gahler MEP Ms. Hilde Vautmans MEP Mr. Niyazi Kızılyürek MEP |
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