European rights court orders Turkey to free Demirtas

European rights court orders Turkey to free Demirtas
Demirtas was detained in November 2016 after parliamentary immunity was lifted from selected MPs. / VOA.
By bne IntelliNews November 20, 2018

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on November 20 ordered Turkey to release from prison opposition politician Selahattin Demirtas of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).

The ECHR said that behind his detention was the "ulterior purpose of stifling pluralism and limiting freedom of political debate".

Despite having to contest his campaign from jail, Demirtas, a 45-year-old human rights lawyer, came third in the presidential elections held in June.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was re-elected in those elections and was subsequently made the country’s first ever executive president with sweeping powers, said the ECHR ruling was not binding.

"We will make a counter-move and finish the job," he told the state-controlled Anadolu news agency.

However, the ruling is a problem for Turkey because the country is part of the Council of Europe—member states agree to follow rulings of the ECHR.

In mid-October, the Turkey rapporteur of the European Parliament, Dutch politician and MEP Kati Piri, came under fire from the pro-Erdogan press after visiting Basak Demirtas, the wife of the jailed politician, at the family home in southeastern Turkey. Her request to visit Demirtas in jail was refused.

Detained for two years
Demirtas has been detained since November 2016. He was arrested after parliamentary immunity was lifted from selected MPs. He faces dozens of charges, with prosecutors seeking up to 142 years in prison if he is found guilty.

The ECHR said Demirtas was arrested on reasonable suspicion of committing a crime, but it also determined that Turkey had violated his right to be brought promptly before a judge, as well as the limitation on restricting a person's rights and the right to free elections. Judges extended his detention on insufficiently justified grounds, it added.

"His inability to take part in the activities of the National Assembly... constituted an unjustified interference with the free expression of the opinion of the people and with his right to be elected and to sit in Parliament," it said in a statement.

The ECHR issued a unanimous verdict and ordered Ankara "to take all necessary measures to put an end to the applicant's pre-trial detention".

Demirtas, a former co-chair of the HDP, applied for a release after the ECHR ruling, according to a statement from his lawyer.

Success partly at expense of AKP
The HDP does not only appeal to ethnic Kurds—the biggest minority in Turkey, making up about 15-20% of the population—but also to groups such as leftists and environmentalists. In the 2015 elections, the party secured a vote share above the 10% threshold, enabling it to enter parliament as the first pro-Kurdish party to do so. Its success partly came at the expense of Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which lost its outright majority in those elections.

The HDP acted as a mediator in peace talks between the Turkish government and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), classified as a terrorist group by Turkey and its allies, including Nato. Demirtas was arrested along with co-party leader Figen Yuksekdag after the peace talks with the PKK broke down and another wave of attacks began.

The initial charges pressed against Demirtas were related to spreading propaganda for militants and failing to co-operate with a counter-terrorism investigation. Early last year, new charges were brought against Demirtas. They included leadership of an armed terrorist organisation and the organisation of unlawful demonstrations.

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