Hearing of Demirtaş Held at ECtHR: Verdict to be Announced at a Later Date

* Photograph: Defense of Demirtaş / Twitter

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) convened to discuss the application of Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) former Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş, who has been behind bars in Silivri Prison in İstanbul since November 4, 2019.

Consisting of 17 judges, the Grand Chamber heard the defenses made by the attorneys of both Demirtaş and the government of Turkey.

The court will also take the statements of intervening institutions such as European Commission of Human Rights as third parties. The judges are expected to announce their judgement as a later date.

Attorneys of Demirtaş presented their statements of defense:

His attorneys presented their statements of defense

"The subject matter of the case which is heard here today is the silencing and punishment of the opposition in Turkey by the hand of the judiciary. Demirtaş is professionally a human rights lawyer. However, he is himself faced with violation of rights today.

"This case is not only about the deprivation of Demirtaş from his freedom. It is also a case where the ECtHR will detect and respond to the fact that the judiciary is used to silence and punish the opposition in Turkey.

"At the core of this case lies the fact that Demirtaş has been deprived of his freedom for political purposes and the judiciary serves this purpose. The highest electoral threshold of Europe is in Turkey. Before 2015, no political party that focused on a democratic solution for the Kurdish question passed this threshold. The HDP chaired by Demirtaş managed to do it.

'His political achivements caused him to be targeted'

"Shortly after a speech by [President and ruling AKP Chair Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan on July 28, 2015, six investigations were launched against Demirtaş. What strikes attention here is the incompatibility between the speeches of Demirtaş and the dates of investigation.

"Several prosecutors across Turkey reviewed the political speeches and actions of Demirtaş from years ago and concluded that they constituted a crime. Raids were conducted to the houses of HDP MPs on November 4, 2016. Considering that there was no bill of indictment as to an organized crime, the only plausible explanation that could be made is that these raids were conducted upon instruction.

"The political achievements of HDP and Demirtaş caused Erdoğan to target him and his party. The fact that a person is arbitrarily deprived of his freedom is a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.

"On November 4, 2016, the Diyarbakır Court put forward nine reasons for the arrest of Demirtaş. These are the political speeches that he held as the co-chair of the second biggest opposition party of Turkey.

'Erdoğan continues to target the opposition'

"The temporal relation between the speeches of President Erdoğan making a call to criminalize Demirtaş and the preparation of the indictment leading to his arrest is apparent.

"The court hearing the case of Demirtaş announced its ruling on September 2 and ruled that he shall be released. It is, of course, a positive judgement to rule that an unjustly arrested person shall be released.

"Nevertheless, no neutral observers can explain why this verdict was given only 16 days before his hearing at the ECtHR Grand Chamber.

"The case of Demirtaş is a part of the restrictions imposed on the rights of the opposition and human rights defenders in Turkey. The President continues to target political opposition from all segments of society and the judiciary continues to respond to these calls.

Reference to prison sentence of Canan Kaftancıoğlu

"Charging the opposition with terrorism has become a 'coin of the realm', so to speak. What happened to Demirtaş has happened to CHP İstanbul Organizational Chair Canan Kaftancıoğlu as well.

"After the CHP has won the local elections in İstanbul, she has been convicted of 'propagandizing for a terrorist organization'.

CLICK - Kaftancıoğlu Sentenced to 9 Years, 8 Months in Prison

"Even when Selahattin Demirtaş is released tomorrow, the scale of the lawsuits and investigations against him will condemn him to live under a constant risk of being arrested again."

Başak Demirtaş, Sezai Temelli watched the hearing

The hearing was held in Strasbourg in France today (September 18) and followed by his wife Başak Demirtaş and HDP Co-Chair Sezai Temelli.

The attorneys of Selahattin Demirtaş Prof. Dr. Başak Çalı, Dr. Kerem Altıparmak, Mahsuni Karaman, Benan Molu, Ramazan Demir and Aygül Demirtaş are representing him today.

The judicial process of Selahattin Demirtaş

Selahattin 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.

(TP/SD)