New Investigation and Request for Arrest Against Selahattin Demirtaş
Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish
Republican People's Party (CHP) İstanbul MP Sezgin Tanrıkulu has posted a message on his Twitter account and announced that a new investigation was launched against imprisoned former Co-Chair of Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtaş today (September 20).
"The 26th Heavy Penal Court gave a verdict of deduction. An application of release on probation was made today. In order to prevent any possible release, the Ankara Prosecutor's Office launched a separate investigation on the charge he is tried and requested his arrest", Tanrıkulu has stated.
It has been reported that the new investigation has been launched against Demirtaş on charge of "membership of a terrorist organization". As part of the new investigation, the testimony of Demirtaş was taken via Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS). Afterwards, Ankara Public Prosecutor's Office has referred him to the penal court of peace on duty to be arrested again.
While Benan Molu, an attorney for Selahattin Demirtaş, has posted the message, "New games to prevent Demirtaş from being free two days after the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) hearing", Ramazan Demir, another lawyer for Demirtaş has stated,
"They are trying to arrest Selahattin Demirtaş on the same charge he was arrested, put on trial for three years and released last week. Today when the verdict of deduction has been given and there have remained no obstacles for his release... Two days after the ECtHR hearing..."
The judicial process of Selahattin DemirtaşSelahattin Demirtaş was taken into custody on November 4, 2016. He 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 judgement 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 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 judgement 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. As his request for release has been rejected, his attorneys lodged a request of "deduction", demanding that the period that he has already served in prison be deducted from his prison term so that he could be released on probation. This request has not been answered yet. |
(DB/SD)
* Photograph: Anadolu Agency