Request Submitted for Release of Selahattin Demirtaş

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The attorney of Selahattin Demirtaş, who is the former Co-Chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and has been under arrest for 17 months, Mahsuni Karaman has appealed to the 19th Heavy Penal Court, requesting the release of his client from the charge of "inciting to commit crime."

As reported by Doğan News Agency (DHA), emphasizing that the related charge has a maximum arrest period of 12 months and this period can be prolonged by six months "under force majeure", Karaman has requested the release of Demirtaş on the ground that he has been in prison for one year and five months.

Reminding that one arrest warrant issued for Demirtaş was for "inciting to commit crime" and the other one was for "membership of an [illegal] organization", Karaman has stated that the first warrant is within the jurisdiction of Criminal Court of First Instance. Karaman has also underlined that as per the Article No. 102 of Criminal Court Law, all charges within this scope have a minimum arrest period of one year and can be prolonged by six months under obligatory circumstances.

In his petition submitted to the 19th Heavy Penal Court, Karaman has written,

"I request that my client, who has spent the basic arrest period in prison, about whom no time extension verdict has been issued and who has been under arrest for almost one year and five months, be released in relation with the arrest warrant issued as per the Article No. 214 of Turkish Penal Code." (ŞA/SD)